


Dominus Hunt Chapters 1 - 10

by DominusHunt



Series: Dominus Hunt [1]
Category: Dominus Hunt
Genre: Anime, Battle, Character, Dragons, Dungeons, Fantasy, Fiction, Fighter, Fighting, Furry, Gen, God - Freeform, Goddess, Gods, Hunt, Hunting, Knight, Swords, War, Wolfman, dominus - Freeform, fight, mercenary, power, sword - Freeform, wold - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27782548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DominusHunt/pseuds/DominusHunt
Summary: A group of mercenaries find themselves paired together, for the opportunity of a lifetime; hunting the very Gods themselves. Join a rag-tag group of warriors battling a variety of monstrous enemies as they begin to slowly understand more and more, the harsh truths of the world.Chapters 1 - 10 Encompass the first two arcs of the Dominus Hunt series. Follow @DominusHunt on twitter for all the latest updates.
Series: Dominus Hunt [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032489





	Dominus Hunt Chapters 1 - 10

Chapter One  
A lit fireplace burned cosily in the corner, extending its light throughout the simple yet grand hall. The sun rose slowly, piercing through the grand oval window on the roof, not a cloud in the sky to block the ever-rising natural light. A pair of long tables would extend the length of the enormous interior, parallel with many doors that ran across the cobblestone walls, and at the very end opposite the flames, protected in a stone cage, a grand door tall enough to overwhelm the entire estate.  
Next to the open blaze, sat a woman, her waist-length scarlet hair pulled into a tall, tight ponytail, held together by a golden ring. She rubbed her shimmering longsword with a clean rag, the blade smooth and attractive, a crisp sheen swimming across the metal as it was shined by the cloth. Her armour dazzled as it reflected the light from the fireplace, metal plating covering her chest and shoulders. Leather protected her stomach and arms, with more shining silver equipped at her legs and hands. A smile grew on her face as she finished wiping down her blade, thoroughly inspecting it from all angles.  
Sitting across from the woman, in a grand leather armchair was a shady looking man. One side of his head was shaved, while the rest of his dark hair would flow down the other side of his head. A bundle of the patch of black that was his hair would be tucked behind his head in a ponytail, much shorter than the fiery red-haired woman’s. His face was painted in a very irritated manner, and a negative energy radiated from him naturally. The sclera of his eyes as black as his hair contrasted violently by piercing pupils the colour of blood. His clothes were simple with a white tank top and a pair of brown leather leggings, and black boots. A black tattoo outstretched from the left side of his chest towards his arm and neck, slowly crawling across his body. The youthful man also held a weapon; a dagger’s blade attached to a long, thin chain with a name engraved into it- ‘Fionna’.  
Michaelis blew a raspberry toward the ceiling, sighing while glaring towards Titania, awaiting a glare back. “Titania, dearest, if you don’t mind, what on earth is taking so long to get out there and work?” Michaelis moaned, restlessly tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair, “I’m antsy to get started.”  
“If you would be a little patient Michael, we are-”  
“Michaelis.” He cut her off, correcting her quickly, “Mick is fine too.” He finished, sneering towards the woman in charge, his tone condescending.  
“Michaelis.” She corrected herself, “Not everyone is as ready to go as you are, and there is still time before we are scheduled to leave.” Titania finished, exhaling just as Michaelis did the same, both exasperated from one another's presence. Regardless, Titania placed her cloth on a small table next to her as she raised her blade into the air, admiring her finished product.  
Along the edge of her blade, she spotted another party, a large green mass approaching Michaelis from behind. “Ah, I assume you’re ready to leave now, Ilgar?” Titania greeted the green giant.  
The sound of the hefty stomps encompassed the massive hall, echoing with each drop of a heavy foot. The man planted his hands on the top of the armchair Michaelis rested upon, causing him to jump with fright as he turned in his chair. A large grin slightly hidden by two massive tusks outstretching from the edges of a beastly man’s mouth erupted upwards past his cheeks.  
“Hello!” The orc erupted, his arm raised in a friendly wave. With a massive war axe attached to his back, secured by a strap across his chest, armour slapped randomly across his body with most of his chest exposed. “I’m ready for fighting!”  
Titania smiled, “That’s grand Ilgar, please, take a seat while we wait for everyone else.” She then gestured to a chair attached to one of the lengthy tables, in which Ilgar promptly slammed himself down on. Crunching sounds could be heard as his full seven-foot-tall body slammed down on the poor wooden chair with all of its force.  
Before Titania had enough time to wince, another person would approach from her right; a young man with snow-white hair and piercing green eyes, paired with his flowing red kimono painted with white flowers across it. “Good morning Miss Titania.”  
“Ah- oh- Uhm, good morning Kaze!” Titania stuttered, blushing slightly at the title of Miss, “Please, Titania is fine.”  
Kaze smiled softly, his hand placed on the handle of his longsword, attached at his left hip. Michaelis stifled a laugh behind his arm as Titania shot daggers towards him with her eyes.  
“Who is left to come?” Ilgar inquired, as he began walking in circles, restless.  
“I believe we have two more with us today, shouldn’t be too much longer now,” Titania replied, showing a soft smile to Ilgar, while Michaelis swung his head around the room with another large attention-seeking sigh.  
“Praise be to Doiteain!” A voice boomed throughout the echoing hall, enough to make all present parties jump, aside from Ilgar who cheered back with a powerful roar. Approaching from one of the many rooms planted across the two walls of the grand hall would be a man completely covered in hair, with a snout like a hound. A grey wolfman with a belt wrapped around his furry waist, and a pair of metal gauntlets covering his fists. The hound-like man twisted the wrists of the metal gloves, causing them to click into place.  
“Dear Freann…” Michaelis muttered as he rubbed his temple.  
“It’s a wonderful day to engage in combat for the glory of one's patron, don’t you agree?” The beastman's voice boomed once more, a devilish grin painted across his fanged mouth. Confusion would continue to flow through Ilgar’s face as he attempted to decipher the sentence and all of its larger words, with a dumb smile planted on his face as he continued to process.  
“I’m glad you’re in high spirits Fenrisolace,” Titania finally mustered the calm to respond, smiling softly towards the fluff covered warrior. “We'll be leaving shortly; we're just waiting for Karrow to arrive.”  
“My ears are burning.” A final voice muttered, exiting from another room, a young man approached with short, spiky black hair, with the sides of his head shaved. He bore a long black robe with sleeves flowing past his hands, and a pair of shining brown eyes.  
“Ah, well that’s everyone, so I can finally explain what we shall be doing today. I trust everyone has made themselves at home?”  
“I don’t think I’ve slept anywhere as soft!” Ilgar shouted with a smile, to Titania’s obvious glee, despite how she tried to hide it.  
“Grand. Now, skipping any formalities; today we are hunting a Goddess, apparently located in the forest of Foraoise to the west of here.” Titania began, picking up a sheet of paper next to the cloth she set down previously, reading off of it.  
“From the uppers down in Capital, we were told via a tip that a lower-tier Goddess could be found there, so it will be a good way to test whether or not you are all able to handle this sort of job.”  
Michaelis scoffed, while Fenris shadowboxed, almost entirely ignoring Titania’s rambling. “I will not be handling the God themselves but will deal with any additional enemies that may be present. You are all entirely liable to die in this battle, so if you don’t take this seriously and give it your all, you can’t blame anyone but yourself when you drop. Also, look out for one another and learn to trust one another. Gods are not to be trifled with and this won’t be our last if you all happen to make it out alive.”  
Kaze gupled, nervous as Ilgar squinted his eyes, mouth slowly opening as he attempted to take in all of the words Titania was dropping at once. “So with that out of the way, make sure you don’t forget anything.” She stood, stretching her arms out, and cracking her neck. “Let’s head out.”  
She approached the door of the guildhall, as the five men behind her followed, faces painted with a variety of joy, excitement and fear.

Chapter Two  
The leaves crunched under the heavy, silver greaves of Titania, the small unit of warriors proceeding through the dense and overgrown forest known as Foraoise. Kaze’s eyes began to fill with wonder as he stared up at the luxurious woods, the trees dozens of times taller than any regular oak. Titania would cut down vines and shrubbery that stood in the group's way, progressing deeper and deeper into the jungle.  
“This place is incredible!” Kaze exclaimed with glee, following closely behind Titania, holding his kimono up by the sides with both hands as they stepped through the mud. Titania’s greaves began to dirty, in contrast to Kaze’s sandals, muddied only at the bottom, his bare feet completely clean. The rest of the group, however, seemed very disinterested or annoyed at the lack of anything very exciting occurring, save for the green giant with eyes sparkling brighter than Kaze’s.  
He sniffed the stunning and bright wildflowers they passed by, admiring the grand woods that towered above them and gleefully clambering over the large roots that stood in their path.  
“It’s pretty! Really pretty!” Ilgar’s voice crept out of his mouth, joy painted over his face as Michaelis gave him an upset sneer.  
“It’s trees. You guys have never seen trees before?” Michaelis barked towards the pair, causing Kaze an amount of embarrassment, and his face to flush red.  
“They’re not jus’ trees!” Ilgar barked back, a large grin painted across his face, “They’re enormous! The leaves are a perfect green, and the flowers are so bright and different! I ain’t never seen anything like ‘em!”  
Michaelis’s eye twitched as he sighed and jogged forward towards Titania; “I’m seriously losing my marbles. Do you even know where we’re going Titania?”  
“Ah, well…” The leader of the guild wiped her brow as she cut down some more shrubbery, “Not specifically. I know she is nested somewhere within this forest, at least according to our tip.”  
“So you decided,” Karrow would interject, “that we should go into this massive forest that spans miles and look for the Goddess based on a single tip from a single individual? And you thought that was a good idea?”  
“Apparently the tip is from a reliable source,” Titania spat back at him, “Now keep looking.”  
Ilgar would pick and show Kaze different flowers as they continued to stomp through the violently green crevices. The group clambered and cut through the vastly grown woods, a powerful scent that felt as pure and fresh as nature could be, would flow into each of their noses.  
“I doubt you’ll find anyone out here,” Fenrisolace remarked, “I’ve lived in these woods my entire life and I’ve never seen any Gods, nor Goddesses, only the beautiful blessings of Doiteain.”  
“Well Fenrisolace-,” Titania began, only to be swiftly cut off.  
“It’s Fenris. Don’t be so formal, we’re out here to beat the life out of some people, though still, I doubt they’re here...” The beastman snapped.  
“We’ll search for a number more hours, you’ll be paid in the end so stop complaining. This isn’t for fun, this is your job.”  
“This is worse than most mercenary work I’ve done.” Michaelis remarked, “At least in most cases I know who my target is and where to actually find them.”  
Ilgar’s eyes lit up as he chimed in, leaning over Kaze’s shoulder beginning to crush the small man. “Oh! I did mercenary work!”  
“I mean, I assume everyone here has.” Kaze chimed in, “Otherwise what’s the point in taking up such a high profile mercenary based job?”  
In an instant, two voices chimed in, perfectly in sync- “Murdering Gods.” Michaelis and Fenrisolace glared at one another as the same words that left their mouths were shared by the man opposite them.  
“Forget I asked…” Kaze mumbled, Karrow sneering towards the pair of hotheads who were now shooting daggers at one another. Kaze continued, “Well what about you Titania, why are you taking up this job?” Titania looked back at Kaze and smiled, followed by placing her hand on her chin as she pondered the question just given to her.  
“Probably money.” She snickered to herself, “That’s quite dull but I suppose so are my desires. To have money, to have people to care about me and work alongside, though the people I’ve been granted aren’t exactly the kindest of fellows.” She chuckled some more, looking back at the group.  
“Well, I suppose they’re not all bad.” She looked to Kaze with a soft smile, which turned his face red. “I suppose only time will really tell what kind of people I’ve got myself stuck with.”  
“Who cares about Feints that deeply?” Fenris spat towards Titania, finally taking his glare away from Michaelis, who scoffed and he looked off into the distance. “Feints can buy you food, and a house, and anything you want but in the end that can’t get me what I want.”  
“Dare I ask…” Titania mumbled, “what do you want, Fenris?”  
“Glory! Bloodshed!” Kaze and Titania cringed as they continued to journey through the leaves, though Ilgar’s attention would be captured, beginning to listen intently to the preaching lycanthrope. “The Goddess of Fire Doiteain must be honoured with battles of only the strongest beings! Becoming one who hunts and battles the Gods themselves will do nothing if not help me become powerful beyond compare, into a champion that even Doiteain herself will recognise and shower me with praises!”  
“I don’t suppose you’re a sunwolf then Fenris?” Titania replied to his ramblings, in which his ears twitched.  
“I am indeed! A sunwolf born to Fenrir, leader of the Sunwolf tribe, and it is my duty as the heir to bring glory to the sunwolves!” The beastman bellowed with pride and honour flowing from his voice, a confident grin on his face.  
“Lots of talk for a furball.” Michaelis sneered.  
“You can’t talk. What’s with the black eyes?” Fenris began, glaring back towards Mick. “And the tattoos, who are you trying to impress with the shadow warrior schtick?”  
“I think you both look swell!” Ilgar remarked, putting his arms around both of their shoulders only to have himself shoved away swiftly by both parties.  
“Please don’t start a fight right now.” Titania sighed, looking back towards the pair with worry beginning to paint her face.  
“Uh, Titania-” Kaze exclaimed, pointing ahead. Karrow leapt forward straight away, through the last of the vines and bushes only to find himself at the edge of a massive circular clearing, seemingly randomly in the middle of the towering and immense forest.  
“Well, there’s nothing here!” Karrow spat, looking very irritated. “Great job snow-head, you let me get my hopes up.”  
“That’s not true,” Michaelis remarked, a slightly shaken tone in his voice, walking ahead of Karrow, looking around the clearing while squinting. The rest of the party entered, looking up at the trees, with Karrow and Fenris clearly uninterested.  
A swift slash through the air echoed through everyone in the party’s ears as Titania stood tall and ready. Her blade would be held high in the air, some grass softly falling from the space where her sword had moved to. “I think you were right on the money Kaze, we found where we were looking.”  
Michaelis looked towards Titania, before looking towards the mountainous treeline. “There, to the south high up in the trees.” He finished pointing directly towards a small brown figure hiding in the canopy of the lumber tower.  
Titania brought her blade to her side as she looked up to the top of the woods. The rest of the group just arriving from the west, Titania squinted her own eyes before they widened, a soft smile appearing on her face. “I’m going to go say hello.”

“I’ll come with you!” Kaze remarked, but she was already gone. A second after she vanished a large gust of wind blasted backwards and hit the group in the face. Michaelis’s eyes widened as he watched Titania go from standing still to flying through the air towards the very top of the treeline. She embedded her blade into the side of the timber, just below their attacker, holding on tight and looked up to him with devilish eyes.  
The immense sapling quaked, the target leaping to another trees trunk, the attacker running vertically straight down towards the clearing. However, in what seemed like a fraction of a second, Titania had already arrived at the bottom, dust still settling around her. The rest of the group was stunned by Titania’s reactions and movements, this same shock shared by the one who had seemingly attacked them.  
With a beige cloak covering most of his body, he seemed quite normal, however, patches of his skin were replaced by what seemed like layers of leaves, with bloody crimson eyes and long black hair. He would leap backwards from Titania, a wooden bow present in his hand having the string pulled back, as some grass erupted from his fingertips enveloping itself until forming into an arrow. His fingers released the bowstring as the arrow discharged and launched towards Titania. Despite this, without a moment of hesitation, she swiftly swung her blade upwards, another collective of grass blades whistling slowly towards the ground.  
Michaelis’s eyes widened, as a shiver ran up his spine. “He’s not alone!” He bellowed across the clearing, causing Titania’s ears to twitch. She took a soft step backwards as a powerful and quick rumbling from the earth lead to a large drill made of grass, leaves and vines erupting just in front of her, thrusting immediately towards her chest, only to be just out of range.  
“Thank you, Michaelis.” She smiled softly as she cut the large construct from the ground in a single slash horizontally, before stepping over it. “I’ll be leaving them up to all of you then. Remember what I told you.” Titania’s knees bent as she licked her upper lip, staring down the young man who lunged into the woods to his left, only for Titania to leap up into the trees and pursue him.  
The rest of the group looked around themselves, Michaelis squinting his eyes again as he grabbed the handle of his chain blade, slowly pulling the dagger from the side of his waist.  
A being would be at the opposite end of the cleaning, body completely green, made up of leaves- a dryad, with hair made of vines which wrapped down to her shoulders, it was confusingly stunning despite being inhuman. “There’s our target.” Michaelis spat, gripping his chain with his left hand and holding his dagger tight with his right.  
Karrow, Fenris, and Kaze stepped forward, with Kaze drawing his longsword from his hip and holding it in front of himself with both hands, the handle of his blade gripped tightly. But while they prepared for battle, Michaelis’s eye twitched, looking back towards Ilgar who had yet to join the group, in their battle-ready stance.  
A grim look of a monster drew across the orcs face as he grinned like a beast. He tightly gripped his right wrist with his left hand, holding it in front of his legs, just below his torso. A bright light appeared in his palm, a generating orb of energy which caused Michaelis’s eye to twitch once more. Quickly he grabbed Karrow’s arm and pulled him out of the way, Kaze and Fenris, realising they should follow suit, dipped to the opposite side, making way for the orc.  
Ilgar swiftly slammed his hand into the ground causing the orb of light to detonate, clearing the ground beneath him of grass, a mass explosion propelling the green giant across the clearing, the only thing audible outside of the ringing from the detonation to the group, was a faint “Yahoo!” as the warrior rocketed through the sky, his massive war axe tied to his back.  
Michaelis began laughing hysterically, like a fire was lit in his eyes he smiled from ear to ear as he watched the madness of a green mercenary, flying through the air straight towards a God. Only two words were able to leave his mouth, and express how he felt in that moment.  
“Holy shit!”

Chapter Three  
Ilgar began closing the gap over the massive expanse in mere moments, flying from the west side of the clearing to the east. The dryad stood idle, her eyes widening as she spotted a second light appear in Ilgar’s left palm, the orc reeling back his arm despite the speed at which he propelled through the air.  
Her left fist tightened as she thrust it into the sky above, before opening her palm wide. A wall of vines erupted from the earth at an astounding speed just in front of her, the individual yet enormous creeping plants wrapping around one another. As they snaked and coiled, they developed into one solid mass of green about five meters tall and wide. As the orc was obscured from the dryad’s view by the grand wall, Ilgar slammed his palm into the collective of emerald vines. A loud boom cracked across the grassy expanse, as Ilgar fell through the large wall, a burning hole planted directly in the centre of it. He rolled as he landed, bouncing onto his two feet with a cocky smile on his face, as smoke began emanating from the mess he had already begun to create.  
“You are daring aren’t you?” The woman commented to Ilgar, who had already begun to work up a sweat, panting softly. “But you’re also foolish, which will be the reason you die here.” The woman thrust her right arm towards the ground behind her as she finished, as she began to wince. A massive vine akin to the ones that structured the wall appeared from her shoulder and began slowly wrapping around her arm. Reaching the end of her fingertips, it formed a thick, sharp lance, that thinned as it got closer to her hand. The serpent-like vine which swimmed around her arm, acute as a spear, was aimed towards Ilgar swiftly as if- despite its massive size- it weighed nothing.  
Ilgar drew his waraxe from his back with his right arm, gripping the bottom of the handle with his left, clenching tight. A flame erupted from the eye of the axe, flowing downwards towards the twin blades that rested either side of the head, slowly until both blades were engulfed in fire. The orc dashed towards his opponent, before leaping in the air, slamming a flaming axe blade down upon her. The woman raised her thick lance into the air, guarding horizontally above her head as the flaming axe crashed into it. The result of this attack ended up very lacklustre, as the axe barely managed to cave into the denseness of the weapon. Ilgar landed on his feet, as he continued to push the axe down on the woman from above.  
“Very daring, but also ignorant.” The woman spat towards Ilgar, as he continued pressing down with all of his strength, a faint light appearing in his left hand as he continued to grip the axe tight. The woman’s eyes swiftly widened in a moment, as she flicked her lance upwards to knock Ilgar back, stepping to the left as a bullet of light passed by her head. “You dare!” She yelled, Ilgar’s left palm idle, released from the axe and aimed towards where the dryad was just standing. She reeled her arm back, anger painted across her face as the Orc simply tutted at his failing.“Do you know who I am, Orc?”  
“A target.” He spat back at her, gripping his axe with both hands once again, this time slashing at her horizontally from her right.  
“I am the Goddess of Nature itself- Crann.” She spoke down to him, while swiftly knocking the axe away with the tip of her blade. Ilgar stumbled as his axe was sent to his left, amongst the trees surrounding the edge of the clearing. “And I will mince you in an instant.” Crann then raised her left arm into the air as dozens of sharp creeping plants lunged from below starting close to the Goddess, but quickly appearing more and more in the direction of the orc. Ilgar looked disgruntled, but before he was even able to react to the attack he received a boot to the side of his face. Ilgar followed after his axe as he was launched into the woods to the right of Crann, as the collective attack she launched failed to pierce anything.  
Michaelis stood to the left of Crann’s vine onslaught, after hopping back from delivering a kick to the side of Ilgar’s face. The coal-eyed mercenary kept his hands in his pockets, flicking his hair out of his eyes as he smirked towards the Goddess. “Insolence.” She spat, angered, dashing towards Michaelis. She reeled her right arm back before thrusting her lance towards him, only for him to strafe away, beginning to hop backwards as he laughed at her. “You don’t know who you’re messing with, child.” She announced, her voice was soft but her demeanour and tone mighty. Michaelis however, was completely unphased, continuing to laugh at the Goddess, smile unwavering. Crann was angered, as she clenched her left fist tight, the ground beneath Michaelis softly quaking.  
He began stepping back, strafing, as dozens of spears of leaf erupted from the earth one by one, as Michaelis looked to the ground, seemingly knowing where they appeared. He looked up to Crann as he continued to retreat slowly, only to realise the dryad was right in front of him, having leapt over her field of blades. The Goddess while launching towards the shadowy figure, quickly rammed her right arms blade straight towards Michaelis’s face.  
As he grimaced at the blade inches from his head, a burst of sand appeared just in front Michaelis’s eyes. He finished his retreat as the final spike of green erupted from the ground, looking ahead as he found Crann had been knocked to his left. A trail of crushed stone led from where she was hovering to both her jaw and lance, as she looked desperately angry, turning to the west as Michaelis did the same. Kaze and Fenrisolace stood there, with Karrow in front of them, his left arm aimed towards where Crann now stood.  
Small wyverns, made entirely of crushed earth, rock and sand floated just overhead Karrow, two of them, around the size of his fists. Slowly more sand flowed from his sleeves into the air above him, adding to the dragons’ size. Before Crann could make another move she had realised Michaelis had seemingly vanished, no longer anywhere within view of where he just was. Looking around herself it took mere seconds before she felt a warm, sharp pain around her back. A hot liquid dripped down her spine as a deep pain was received. She spun around on the heels of her bare feet which shared a hue with the grass beneath her, thrusting her lance right behind where she stood. Her weapon only slashed into the air, as Michaelis hopped backwards before the spear came close to him.  
Sweat beaded off of Mick’s face as he smiled devilishly, chain and blade in each hand as blood dripped from the tip of his dagger. Ilgar during this time recovered and began to approach from the east with his waraxe held in his right hand. Crann’s face was painted with anger, as she thrust her lance in Ilgar’s direction, detaching from the Goddess’ arm and swiftly flying towards him like a bullet. The orc barely avoided the attack as Crann began squeezing both of her fists tight, the lance digging into a tree deep.  
“You’re all dead!”  
The Goddess thrust her fists towards the ground, before slowly pulling them up as if she was weighed down by a pair of heavy chains. Until her hands reached her torso, she then lunged her fists into the sky, the entire clearing rumbling, as brambles and roots began erupting from the ground all around the God Hunters.  
The God Hunters hopped out of the way of the seemingly slow attack until it became apparent to everyone except Ilgar. A maze of vines had formed around them all, separating them. Kaze, alone, attempted cutting through the walls to return to Fenrisolace and Karrow, though his sword was barely able to make a dent in the briars.  
He looked in the direction he was facing previous, to find Crann approaching him with a new arm lance freshly wrapping around her right hand. “I’ll drop you all one by one, then I’ll deal with Titania herself.” She spat, as she began a dash towards Kaze with incredible speed. Thrusting her lance straight towards the Godhunter’s head, as the young man sidestepped with a very calm demeanour, slamming his left hand into the lance that had just passed by his head. The white-haired boy gripped his longsword tight in his right fist, as a massive thorn burst from the side of the spear and ran right through his palm. Blood began pouring immediately from the now massive hole that had taken refuge in the centre of Kaze’s left hand.  
Kaze pulled his hand from the immense thorn, before hopping back a couple of meters, stabbing his sword into the dirt and tearing the kimono on his left sleeve. With his teeth and uninjured hand, he wrapped the ripped cloth around his palm, crimson blood turning the white flowers as scarlet as the rest of the kimono. “Phew…” Kaze exhaled, “That was close.” He muttered as he tightened his bandage which didn’t do a massive amount to stop the tsunami of blood pouring from his hand. Kaze’s gaze returned towards Crann as he retrieved his blade from the ground, aiming it towards her, clenching it, tight. Crann looked at him perplexed, as the swordsman began running towards her, his sword held across his chest diagonally. The Goddess thrust her lance towards Kaze’s chest, only for the lance to be slammed upwards by the god hunters sword, knocking Crann off balance. Sparks of lightning flowed across the blade as Kaze closed in and slashed across Crann’s chest from her left shoulder diagonally across her body. Crann stumbled backwards, as blood began to leak from all of her torso.  
“Fuck!” Crann spat, as she planted her left hand on the grass beneath her, lance aimed towards Kaze, as she began to kneel. “You’re a bigger pest than I expected…” She continued, Kaze keeping distance with his longsword aimed right towards her. The blades of grass touched by Crann extended and flowed up her body, wrapping around her torso like a thin tunic, covering her front and rear injuries and stopping any more bleeding completely.  
As she stood back up, she raised her left palm, before slamming it through the air to the right, dozens of brambles to the side of Kaze flowing like snakes as they slashed against his body. One of the thorns would snake directly through Kaze’s right forearm, the different spiked vines wrapping around his wrists and ankles. Blood began to leak from where he was pierced, as panic began to draw across his face. “I’m going to enjoy running you through, brat,” Crann exclaimed with dark glee, stomping forward towards Kaze, reeling her right arm back as she approached, preparing to skewer him.  
“Warrior of the Sun!” Fenrisolace bellowed, slamming his metal fist into the Goddess’s head from above, knocking her to the ground. As the dryad lifted her face from the dirt, she quickly pushed herself to her feet, turning on her heels towards her attacker. As the Goddess turned, she swiftly received a right hook to the forehead, knocking her backwards towards Kaze. The dryad held her head as she recovered, dazed, blood dripping from her brow. As the blood continued flowing down the bridge of her nose, Fenris looked down on her with complete excitement across his face. “Come get some!” He bellowed, fists held tight to his head, hands very slightly open, his beady yellow eyes leaking through the cracks of his gauntlet’s fingers. The Goddess had anger painted on her face, before leaping straight into the briars to the left of Kaze, disappearing amongst them.  
Fenrisolace tutted as he approached Kaze, tightening the grip on his right fist. He stopped just in front of Kaze, as the air around his arm began to look fuzzy to the white-haired young man. The beastman continued to flex, before snapping his arm upwards into the air, a sudden flame would ignite at his shoulder. Slowly creeping up his arm, towards the tips of his fingers an orange flame coiled upwards, before all at once it flared, beaming with power. “Combustion Fist.” He muttered as he finished performing the technique, before beginning to chop with his iron dressed fist through Kaze’s restraints.  
“Ah, thank you, Fenris,” Kaze muttered, rubbing his newer wounds. “I think I’ll have to stay out of the rest of this fight, I’m bleeding a whole lot.” He said with disposition, as he began to tear into his kimono some more, starting with rewrapping his left palm, before working on the impalement in his right forearm.  
Fenrisolace clasped his hands together, one of them burning with flames as he stretched his hands forward, cracking his knuckles “Don’t worry. I can likely handle her all by myself anyways.” He responded with a cocky smile, the fire that ignited around his arm slowly fizzling out. Kaze sighed as he treated his cuts, as Fenrisolace began stomping further into the maze.  
Karrow proceeded with caution corner to corner of the immense labyrinth, a pair of fluttering sand drakes just above his head being constantly fed sand as they do laps in the air. The sound of a branch snapped behind the Godhunter, who reacted by quickly turning on his heels and thrusting his right palm forward to send one of his small beasts. The wyvern rocketed through the air only to slam headfirst into one of the maze’s root walls, bursting into dust.  
At the same time he turned around to check his rear, Crann rushed to him with a gauntlet around her right arm made of wrapped vines. Each individual finger of the gauntlet, sharp and deadly, like a beast's claw. She slashed into his right arm, taking a large chunk from it as the sand warrior jumped backwards, howling in pain. “Bitch!” He yelled to her, as he extended his left hand to the sky.  
Karrow’s final wyvern flew into his palm, bursting into dust before it began wrapping and snaking around his hand. A gauntlet of sandstone formed, much more hardened and powerful looking than Crann’s sleek and sharp fist. Karrow lunged forward, thrusting a left hook towards the Goddess’s head, only for it to be caught within her moss-green claw.  
“This was your counterattack? Punching me?” She scoffed, laughing softly as she crushed the sandstone fist within her hand, rubble and dust flying through the cracks of her claws. The dust exploded in both parties' visions, as she continued to squeeze Karrow’s bare hand. “I’ve already taken your right arm, why not your left.” The Goddess cackled.  
Crann then stumbled backwards, putting her left hand to her face, as she became confused from a sharp pain flowing through her jaw. The dust would clear as Crann’s fingers rubbed against a sand knife embedded within her cheek.  
“You’re overconfident” Karrow spat back towards Crann, his right hand by his side, with his index and middle fingers, pointed towards the Goddess. He smiled, but only as sweat dripped down the side of his temple, a large gash out of his right arm, he could begin to retreat slowly as the Goddess loosened her grip on his now crushed hand.  
Crann would be enraged as she reeled her arm backwards, extending her fingers in preparation to stab into Karrow. However, at the same time just above her arrived a green blur. Karrow was the first to see him, as the orc hovered in the air just a handful of meters above the Goddess. Aiming his left palm down towards her, and gripping it tight with his right a yellow light would be primed and ready within the grasp of his hand. Upon recognising Karrow’s gaze change, she looked up to where his sights were set, only to raise her right hand in defence. A powerful blinding light projected immediately downwards onto the Goddess, blocked seemingly entirely by the grassy gauntlet.  
Crann’s vine fist turned to cinders as it fell apart around her hand, charred and destroyed by the power of the blast. As her gauntlet fell apart, the blade stabbed into her cheek reduced to rubble, falling from just above her jaw alongside the dripping red blood. Ilgar rolled onto the ground just behind Karrow as he landed, Crann’s hand blackened. The Goddess covered in wounds hidden by a tunic of grass, blood leaking from her forehead. She stumbled backwards, her blood-red eyes glaring at the two who now opposed her.  
She screamed in anger. “I’ve had enough of this!” As her right arm dug into the wall to her right, the briars and thorns that made up the labyrinth began to flow onto her body. The entire maze began to swim towards Crann, as it built around her- power and size exploding as the small Goddess became one with her trap.  
Michaelis, just around the maze's corner from where Crann and her opposition lay, began to back up as she combined with her jungle. Disappointment painted his face as he gripped his dagger tight, retreating towards the rest of the group, who had begun huddling up as they opposed the ever-growing giant, the maze acting like a distant memory.  
Kaze’s arm and hand while wrapped up with tatters of his kimono, still dripped blood, his eyes looking heavy. In a similar situation, Karrow’s right arm having a large chunk removed from it and his left hand now purple and red from being crushed within Crann’s grasp. Ilgar was in just as bad shape, as despite taking no damage he was panting heavily. Sweat beaded down from his temple as some smoke escaped his palm, from the previous blast he had launched.  
The vines continued to wrap and envelop one another until finally, the form was complete- a large briar dragon. Thorns, vines and leaves all binding one another to create an immense structure. Claws like drills the size of a human, and a gaping maw that screamed power. Her eyes formed out of bundles of red roses, as crimson as the Goddess’s own.  
“You all seem tired, so I suggest staying back.” Michaelis sighed, as he walked around the left side of the huddled injured three, blade in his hand as he stared up at the dragon, unphased.  
“You can stay back too if you feel like complaining more.” Fenris spat back at Michaelis, walking around the right side of the group, cracking his knuckles through his iron gauntlets.  
“Just don’t hold me back wolf-boy.” Michaelis jabbed, laughing to himself as alongside the beastman, they approached the immense dragon, releasing a chilling roar towards its challengers.

Chapter Four  
Fenrisolace broke into a sprint towards the left of Crann, his arms pointed behind his back as he rocketed across the battlefield. The beastman's furry feet singed the grass he slammed onto, as he dashed onwards, facing down the immense dragon of vine and thorn.  
“That seems smart…” Michaelis grumbled sarcastically, looking back to the injured members of the squad. “It really is just me and him huh.” He sighed, as Ilgar’s face began to show upset.  
“I can…” The orc huffed, catching his breath, “I can fight more!”  
Michaelis smirked like a devil as he clapped his hands, “Good enough for me!”  
The distance between the group and the dragon was immense, with Fenrisolace being the only one that has decidedly approached her range. Michaelis began limbering up, as Ilgar attempted to catch his breath before they chased after the beastman.  
“Wait!” Kaze interjected, Michaelis and Ilgar stopping in their tracks, “Her injuries across her torso are severe.” He began, breath faded, “If you can open them back up she’ll be done for, they’re thinly veiled.” Kaze added, his eyes heavy, as the young man fell to his rear with a thud and sitting on the ground.  
Karrow tutted, “He lost a lot of blood. You two go help the warmonger,” He remarked as he tilted his head towards the beastman further approaching the monster, alone, “I’ll stay here.” He finished, kneeling before tearing further into Kaze’s kimono sleeves. The sand wielder began removing Kaze’s temporary bandages around his arm and hand before wrapping some new, clean one's around his gaping gashes. Kaze simply looked tired, losing lots of blood as Karrow winced, his own injuries hindering his actions as he tightened collections of cloth to Kaze’s cuts.  
As the rest of the God Hunters planned their attack and tended to injuries, Fenrisolace had already begun his onrush. Crann slammed her right claw down from above, as Fenris leapt out of the way, high into the air. He landed with a thud before continuing his dash, as Fenris began changing his trajectory from south to directly towards the dragons left side. The Goddess lifted her right claw from where it missed, swinging towards the sunwolf. The dragon’s nails cut into the grass as the hand swept towards the fluffy Godhunter, beginning to catch up to him despite his monstrous agility.  
The beastman skidded to a halt, as his right arm snapped in front of himself, a flame snaking from his shoulder to his hand. “Combustion Fist!” He shouted as he stomped his right foot towards the claw, slamming into it with a flaming punch. The hand of the dragon was knocked back by this comparatively small fist, causing the entire monster to stumble. “You’re not very good at this.” The beastman commented, with a cheeky grin on his face, alternating hopping on each foot, before breaking back into a sprint.  
“He’s strong,” Ilgar commented, as he panted behind Michaelis, both of them dashing to Crann’s right side, as her attention was focused on Fenris.  
“He’s also reckless, and overconfident. But he’s keeping her busy, and we can take advantage of that.” Michaelis commented, staring up at the dragon from its right side, as its right claw continued to slam towards the sunwolf to no avail.  
“How do we get high up there?” Ilgar asked, with concern.  
“Easily,” Mick muttered with a cocky grin, as he grabbed two lengths of his chain, and began to spin the end with the blade like a lasso. He launched the knife into the sky with a whip of the chain, the dagger cutting through the air. As the blade stopped ascending, with a tight grip on the end of the chain with his right hand, and a grip on Ilgar’s right arm with his left, they vanished. Several purple dust particles would float down from where Ilgar and Michaelis just stood, and similarly where they now appeared. Where the blade rested in the sky, Michaelis now gripped its handle, as well as Ilgar’s arm, tight, as the orc began to panic at the sudden transportation. “One more should do…” Michaelis muttered, throwing his dagger towards the top of the dragon's arm as they slowly began to fall, tightly gripping the end of the chain before it left his reach. Again, particles of purple where they once were and were now, as the dark-haired teleporter tightly gripped the dagger stabbed into the side of the dragon's shoulder. The crimson eyed warrior stood atop Crann’s shoulder, as Ilgar clambered upwards, to be alongside his fellow mercenary. The pair of the orc and the rogue arrived parallel to the Dragons head, which would be roaring at Fenrisolace. The beastman dashed up the creature's forearm, as the other pair of GodHunters watched from the dragon's right shoulder, Fenris dashed, ascending closer and closer to the monster's head.  
Arms swinging individually from his front to his back as he ran, a slam came down on the Goddess’s left arm with her right claw, only for Fenrisolace to leap forward to avoid being squashed. A collective of vines erupted from the dragon’s triceps, snaking and thrusting towards the beastman who ran with only joy in his smile. His iron gauntlets began to glow a faint red, as he leapt into the air and punched directly through a collection of brambles, continuing his sprint towards the upper half of Crann’s torso.  
“Alright, Ilgar, here’s the plan.” Michaelis began, keeping a close eye on the dragon’s head, which continued to let out quaking roars towards the sunwolf. “We’ll use my dagger and chain one last time to get close to the dragon’s face, and when we’re there you need to hit her, with everything you’ve got.” He finished, in a commanding tone. Michaelis panted softly, sweat beginning to drip down from his forehead as he awaited a response from the orc, who was still worse for wear.  
“I’m ready,” Ilgar stated with conviction, his left hand brimming with power, as yellow lightning swarmed around his palm.  
“We’ll just need an opening…” Michaelis muttered, biting the knuckle of his right thumb as he held his chain, looking up at the dragon's head. “I suppose regardless the explosion will at least open up a chance for us to get into her jaw.” A sigh escaped Michaelis’s breath as he grabbed Ilgar’s right arm, whipping his dagger backwards. His charcoal and blood eyes dead set on the beast, he snapped the chain forward, launching the dagger straight towards the dragon's face, before the pair of them teleported towards her right cheek.  
“Go for it!” Michaelis bellowed, throwing his dagger into the air and vanishing, leaving Ilgar floating next to Crann’s monstrous maw alone.  
Ilgar inhaled deeply, power coursing through his hand. He aimed it towards the monster's head right in front of him, as he slammed his right palm on his wrist, focusing the energy. “Dandelion!” The orc exclaimed, only for the dragons head to swiftly twist in Ilgar’s direction.  
“Combustion Fist!” Fenrisolace bellowed, midair, just after punching the dragon in the side of the face, moving it right in the range of Ilgar’s attack. The beastman grabbed onto the folds of the many vines making up the neck of the beast, looking up to the orc who’s hand brimmed and boomed with energy, now aimed directly in front of the rose eyed drake.  
A massive yellow explosion erupted from his palm, instantly blinding all of the Godhunters as Ilgar was rocketed backwards through the air, towards where Karrow and Kaze rested. The smoke cleared, as the dragon's head had been completely eviscerated, Michaelis dropping down from the air above, entering what was left of the vine and bramble skull.  
Inside of the now gaping hole where Crann’s monstrous head once was, the Goddess’ main body stood with vines wrapped around her wrists and ankles. She looked up with worry as sweat dripped from her forehead, and her breath escaped her, coughing from the explosions remnant smoke, attempting to pull free of her restrictions. The wrappings began to tear, but before she could release herself a warm feeling came across her chest, her leaf torso bandaging completely torn in half. Michaelis’s chain jangled, as his dagger slashed through Crann’s chest from her left shoulder across her torso, blood beginning to pour from her massive X-shaped gashes.  
Michaelis dove backwards, falling from the dragon’s head-crater, smoke emanating from the crisp edges of the decimated vines. The shadow-warrior thrust his blade towards the west, the dagger swimming through the air as the chain followed behind, clinking together. With a tight grip on the end of his cable, he vanished with the only remains being small mites of purple energy, floating down from where he glided in the air. The blade now in his hand, he fell to the ground with a thud, just onto Ilgar, who winced at the full impact of Michaelis falling onto his tired body. Both of the god hunters out of breath, Michaelis rolled over onto the ground and looked towards the barely standing beast of briars, his scarlet eyes faint as he rested on the ground.  
The Goddess’ breath became ragged, as vines began to slowly reform the dragon's head and her grass tunic began to reinvigorate itself. At the same time, Fenrisolace stood tall on the back of the dragon's neck, at the very peak of the beast's remaining body. He snapped his left arm into the air, as it ignited in flames just as his right burned, before clasping both fists together.  
“Combustion Hammer!” Fenrisolace roared, raising his flame-engulfed hands above his head, before slamming them down onto the beast beneath his feet as hard as he could. The rest of his body rocketed into the air as his clasped strike struck the cluster of vines he stood upon, complete glee painted on his face. Crann’s blood poured from her wounds like a fountain, the powerful impact knocking her out of her husk, her constraints snapping as her body was released, before falling to the ground with immense force. After many meters, the Goddess landed with a crash on the ground below, blood spouting from her body as she came to impact the green grass below. The wounds on her back opened once more, patterns of crimson red painting around where she lay, as she struggled to push herself back to standing.  
“We’ve got her now,” Karrow muttered, a look of relief on his face as his wounds were plugged up with hardened sand, stained with leaking blood.  
“We’ll leave it to the wolf boy,” Michaelis concluded between breaths, laying on the green and red grass beneath. Kaze continued to pant, his eyelids dark and his face drained of colour. The snow haired husk sat on his hands and knees as he stared down at the green and red haze that was the cut-down Goddess, only to notice an additional mossy blur dashing towards her.  
His voice attempted to leave his lips, only for more air to escape, and after multiple attempts to speak his voice finally reached the ears of Karrow and Michaelis. “Orc.” He sputtered, the other two Godhunters snapping their necks towards Crann. Ilgar dashed towards the dryad, gripping tight his war-axe within his right hand, held high in the air as he continued to perspire heavily.  
“Idiot!” Michaelis yelled, running after Ilgar, breath as staggered as the orcs own. All the while, Fenrisolace stood tall at the tip of the headless dragon, keeping his breathing controlled as steam flowed from his body into the air.  
“Widows fang!” Ilgar bellowed, swinging his axe down on the Goddess from above, smouldering flames barely flowing along the blade. In the same moment, the Goddess’s bare left arm slammed into Ilgar’s right shoulder, no blade or weapon, just her green, blood-stained forearm. In a second which felt like minutes, she ran her limb through Ilgar’s shoulder, his arm dropping to the ground alongside his axe. Blood rocketed from what remained of the orc’s top right limb, the Goddess walking past his body, painted not only with her blood, but the orcs.  
“I have to do everything myself,” Fenrisolace muttered, taking a step off of the dragon he had just slain, falling to the ground with an intense impact, dust settling around his feet as he landed behind Crann effortlessly. A sneer drew across his face and steam flowed from his shoulders the same moment Ilgar had fallen to the ground. The orc began wailing, gripping his wound as heavy crimson gushed from the remnants of his right appendage. The Goddess turned around, as another vine lance began to wrap around her right arm from her shoulder, all while Ilgar’s screams echoed. The orc attempted to hold himself up with his left arm, as his blank eyes stared at where his right arm should have been, until finally the screaming stopped, and he went silent, falling unconscious.  
“Anyways,” Fenrisolace mumbled, snapping his right arm into the air, coating it just as Crann did her own, only his with grand orange blazes. “One more should do it…” He muttered to himself, as he took a deep breath, unlike Crann, whose breath was rough, fear painting her scarlet eyes.  
The beastman stomped forward into Crann’s bubble, the Goddess froze in fear as her rose-red eyes widened. She raised her lance to the air, but it was too late as the beastman had plunged his fist through the Goddess’s already present gaping chest laceration. His hand appeared through the other side of the dryad’s body, the Goddess’s warm beating heart within his hand, blood completely coating his iron fist and hairy arm, as the Goddess coughed crimson ichor onto the Sun Wolfs shoulder.  
The monstrous lycanthrope retracted his arm, turning and approaching the unconscious orc’s waraxe which lay idle on the ground, grass under the blade scorched and blackened. Crann fell to her knees as she barely gasped for air, Fenrisolace dropping her heart and lifting the grand waraxe. The flame which engulfed his arm snaked along the handle of the blade, until the tip of the axe burst with immense embers, grander than anything Ilgar had previously mustered.  
“You fought well.” Fenrisolace remarked, turning to face the Goddess again as he slowly approached, “But you will never surpass a child of Doiteain!” He exclaimed to Crann, as her wide eyes looked up to the sunwolf, pitiful. Tears dripped down the Goddess’s cheek as the beastman’s arm moved like a bullet, the Goddess’s head flying through the air before landing on the grass beneath with a thud, painting another mass of the beautiful clearing with cherry red gore.  
Titania approached the group from the south of the open-space, a young man's body dragged by his leg behind her, as the guild master approached the rest of the group, herself completely unscathed. “For fuck’s sake.” Titania spat as she noticed Ilgar slumped on the ground, dropping the corpse from her grip, as irritation painted her profile.

Chapter Five  
A crash emanated throughout the guildhall, Ilgar’s seven-foot-tall body dropping onto the incredibly lengthy table, that stretched the entirety of the room. Snapping sounds could be heard from the legs of the table, which began to cave in. Titania stood over the giant green warrior's body, her arms still hanging in the air after dropping the orc from them, right in front of a man that was previously leaning against the table on his elbows. The man that was sitting at the table, wearing a white trench coat, proceeded to fall backwards from his chair due to shock. The man’s lime eyes were wide as he attempted to compose himself, taking deep breaths. His hair was black, kempt and tidy, wearing a pair of brown boots and leggings, outfit finalised with the black leather gloves he wore. He was quite short compared to the mercenaries, being around only five foot six.  
“Curam, he’s missing an arm,” Titania remarked bluntly, Ilgar’s wound where his arm once connected covered with red-stained sandstone, “Fix please.” She finished, smiling like an idiot.  
The man referred to by Titania as Curam returned to his feet, looking irritated, beginning to investigate Ilgar’s sandy bandaging. He released a soft sigh while lifting a large cloth bag onto the table from the floor, beginning to rustle into it. At the same time, Karrow helped Kaze across the room and assisted him to a seat next to Titania. The man removed a large, sharp knife from the sack, which began to glow a faint red, as he planted his left hand on the sandy binding. A green light emanated from the man's left hand, which encompassed Ilgar’s shoulder, whilst the part of his arm that remained, that was connected to the sandstone fasten, was thinly sliced off. Karrow winced, watching on, as the lump of flesh was cut off, the fresh wound closed over immediately.  
“He should be fine, he’s mainly tired and has lost blood, and it looks as if he’s not alone,” Curam remarked, noticing Kaze and Karrow. “I’ll sort you lot now. Take a seat, rest yourselves.”  
“Titania, who is this man?” Michaelis questioned, sitting down next to where Titania stood, placing a small brown sack stained with blood on the table next to Ilgar’s unconscious body.  
“Curam is our official guild doctor, sent from Capital itself,” Titania replied, leaping over the width of the long table, causing the meek healer to jump mid-rustling through his grand sack, the guild leader landing beside him.  
“Luckily I need no injuries restored due to my impeccable fighting.” Fenrisolace cackled, flexing to himself, after setting Ilgar’s axe against a wall.  
The doctor lifted a small bowl from his bag, made of shiny metal with different engravings of hearts, with vines flowing from them and intertwining. From his large bag, the doctor retrieved a pouch that rattled, as well as a clean and polished scalpel. The doctor's blade began to illuminate a faint orange, using it to cut the tip of his index finger, a speck of blood dropped into the bowl that rested on the table. The slice on Curam’s finger immediately closed over, a faint green glow flowing around it. The healer dipped his hand into the small sack, taking out a little ball of iron before dropping it into the bowl along with the previous bead of blood. He lastly placed his palm over the dish, the faint green light once again flowing from his body, encompassing the bowl, the crimson and metal melding together. The blood and iron melded together, turning dark and black, before expanding in volume. Curam removed his hand from the basin, exhaling softly, the contents of the dish now half full, a black, murky sludge. “Bottoms up.” The doctor chuckled, pushing the cup across the table towards where Karrow and Kaze sat.  
“Are you serious?” Karrow spat, looking at the bowl with extreme discomfort.  
“It will cause your heart to produce a large amount of blood at once based on how much you’ve lost, just a mouthful should do.” The specialist finished, grinning, stone-faced, all while Michaelis poorly suppressed a laugh. Karrow picked the dish up, pouring it into the barely conscious Kaze’s mouth, who began to sputter up the slimy mud flowing down his throat. The colour began to return to the boy’s face as he stood up from his chair, gagging. Curam snatched the swordsman’s hand from the air, across the table, blood beginning to congregate near the palm hole. A green light began to emit around and in the wound, as it slowly closed itself up, regenerating bone, flesh and skin until Kaze’s hand was completely repaired.  
Karrow sneered at the bowl, taking a swig of his own, the healer beginning to restore the wound on Kaze’s arm. Fenrisolace walked to the other side of the building, before dropping his body onto an armchair near the burning fireplace. A grin grew on the beastman’s face while looking into the flames, Michaelis taking a seat opposite Fenris, glaring towards the sunwolf.  
Karrow’s injuries bathed in the green light while he gagged from the blood regenerating goop, Kaze lifting Ilgar’s head for Titania to pour the remainder of the slime into his mouth. The orc coughed himself awake, falling off the table and slamming into the ground, snapping the floorboards beneath his back. Ilgar’s breath ran ragged, panting as he looked around himself with shock, guck dripping down his chin.  
Curam clambered over the width of the table, leaning down and taking Ilgar’s hand, before reassuring him. “You’re okay, you had an accident out in the field, but everything will be perfectly fine.” Calmly, the doctor soothed Ilgar with his words, helping him to his feet as Karrow’s unfinished healing caused his side to bleed further. Kaze pulled a chair out, sitting next to where Ilgar stood, while the doctor approached Karrow to finish the restoration of the large gash out of his side.  
“What happened?” Ilgar muttered, looking at where his arm was once connected.  
Titania began glaring down at him from the other side of the dining table. “You were an idiot. You sprinted in towards a God, while out of stamina.” She bellowed while encompassed with rage, beginning to rant and slamming her hands down on the table. “You overestimated yourself and underestimated a being referred to as a God, a being that, with their birth, created all of nature and plant life. You are an idiot, and now, you’ve been disarmed.”  
Ilgar began to grind his teeth while looking to the floor, Titania exhaling as Curam began to look through his sack, Karrow stretching his body out, repaired and well. “Here it is!” The healer stated with glee, taking out a large metallic right arm. Ilgar looked up in confusion as the doctor breathed on the piece of equipment, polishing it with his coat sleeve.  
“That’s..?” Ilgar began, Curam responding swiftly with a grand smile.  
“Your new arm!” bringing it to the orc, he began measuring it up with his stump and other arm whilst the one-armed warrior simply sat in disbelief.  
Kaze looked aghast, beginning to sputter; “Wait you can’t just regenerate it? You healed all of our injuries, why not the arm?”  
“I’m only so powerful. For someone to have a survival blessing able to regenerate an entire arm not only takes a massive amount of strength, but also energy and time. I could do it if I had a constant supply of food and days without sleep, but this is much easier.  
“But my arm!” Ilgar shouted in disbelief, as the doctor began to frown.  
“Oi!” Titania belted towards Ilgar, “This is the extent of our health care provided by the guild- you want a new arm? Go pay for it yourself.”  
“Where is his arm?” Curam pondered to the guild leader.  
Karrow winced, Titania stating with little sugar coating, “Fenris fed it to a wild dog.”  
Ilgar looked in disbelief towards the Sunwolf, “You what!”  
“He looked hungry, and you didn’t seem like you were using it.” Fenris declared with little remorse, yawning laying back in his armchair.  
“I tried to stop him,” Karrow replied, leaning against the wall, next to Ilgar’s axe.  
“No you didn’t.” Michaelis responded, sneering, “You said he probably wouldn’t like it and then when you were ignored, you shrugged!”  
Karrow stared daggers at Michaelis who smirked, cackling softly to himself. Though this exchange would be short-lived, due to Ilgar beginning to charge yellow energy within his left palm, rage encompassing his face. Michaelis dove behind his chair, peaking around it with excitement on his face, as Fenrisolace stood up and faced down Ilgar confidence and a powerful smile.  
Before Ilgar’s explosion could leave his hand, Titania’s middle knuckle on her right hand slammed into his right temple, as if knocking on a door. Ilgar’s energy flowing around his palm faded, falling to his hand and knees, his entire body quaking like a large rock was just placed on his head.  
“Before you go destroying my guildhall, need I remind you this is your fault. I let him do as he pleased with that arm because you need to learn that this job isn’t so kind. You’re lucky to have escaped with your life.” Titania spat, standing over Ilgar, a faint red light flowing around her right hand. “And that applies to all of you!” She yelled, causing Kaze to jump, “You all got off lucky as far as I’m aware. You’re obviously still misinformed on the severity of your job, so next time I hope you’ll all take much more caution.”  
Curam helped Ilgar to his feet and set him on a chair. “It’ll be fine.” He reassured the orc, who looked again to where his arm once was, mortified. The healer would take the metallic arm and plant it on Ilgar’s stump, placing his hand over the point where they connected. “Would you mind lowering your aura around your right shoulder?”  
Ilgar looked up, obviously upset, but also confused. “Ah, just, like, how do I word this... Use the same feeling as when you make an explosion, but do the opposite, around your right shoulder.” The specialist attempted to explain. Ilgar let out a soft sigh, looking to the ground, his shoulder lowering slightly, his muscles relaxing, while Titania tutted and took a seat on the guildhall table. “Perfect!” Curam exclaimed as a faint yellow light emerged from his right hand, wrapping around Ilgar’s shoulder like a whip, squeezing softly. “Binding.” The doctor stated to himself, the metal arm beginning to conjoin with the orc’s skin, the prosthetic sinking into his stub like quicksand.  
Ilgar looked to his newly attaching arm, still upset over the events, but also curious. The arm was the same size as his original, a tint of dark green over the metallic texture, fingers made up of individual sections. Curam smiled, as he took his hands away. “Give it a whirl!”  
Ilgar stood up, moving the arm around as if it was his own, completely intertwined with his body. “How?” Ilgar sputtered, in awe at how perfectly in sync it was.  
“It uses titanium, it’s one of the most aura-conductive materials on the planet, and while I can’t restore your limb I can do just as good- if not better, under the right circumstances.” The doctor smirked, placing his hand on Ilgar’s new arm, Ilgar touching it himself, running his real fingers across his metallic bicep. “I can touch myself.” He murmured, shocked.  
Karrow sputtered, covering his mouth as Michaelis began howling with laughter. “If you mean feel touch, yes, this arm is a part of your very being,” Curam remarked, smiling gently. “It will also allow you to conduct your explosions through your arm, just like your original. Hell, it’ll even be more sturdy than your old arm.”  
Ilgar smiled softly, still a disappointed look in his eyes as he didn’t remove his gaze from his new arm. The healer placed his hand on Ilgar’s shoulder. “Maybe get some rest, you’ve had a long day.”  
“And you’ll need to be prepared for tomorrow,” Titania stated, while Curam helped Ilgar to his feet.  
“What do you mean?” The doctor replied, looking up to Titania, confused.  
“We’ll be hunting another God early tomorrow morning, so everyone will need to be mentally and physically prepared.”  
“Are you insane?” The specialist exclaimed, “These people nearly lost their lives today- and you want to send them after another God immediately?”  
Michaelis flicked his hair out of his eyes looking indifferent as he returned to his chair, Fenris licking his lips in excitement. “There have been moments where people have fought days on end without any rest at all,” Titania replied, standing over Curam, relaxed. “They’ll have to be able to manage, or, they are free to leave.”  
“But Ilgar-” The healer began to stumble to Titania before he was cut off by the orc, whose eyes stared daggers towards the guild leader.  
“I’ll be ready.” Ilgar spat, before turning and stomping towards his room.  
Curam began to look uncomfortable, packing his things away into his bag, while Titania approached him from behind. “We have a tip this God is in the area, but if we don’t follow up on it as soon as possible, they can move. We can’t take that chance, especially if they plan on attacking people anytime soon. The orc will be fine if he’s smart. If he’s not? He’ll die, and he’ll die knowing the risks.”  
Kaze would bite his lip, looking to Titania, who spoke down to the doctor with an intensely commanding tone. To the snow haired young man, her demeanour had shifted vastly from how nervous she seemed in the morning. Curam replied with nothing, before finishing gathering his things and walking out the grand doors.  
“You all heard what I said,” Titania announced, walking towards her room. “Get some rest, we’ll be working hard tomorrow too.” She finished, closing the door behind her, leaving the room behind her tense and quiet.  
“So-” The kimono baring swordsman began, attempting to break the silence, only to be interrupted.  
Karrow would be the one to cut him off, “See you tomorrow” he interjected, before heading directly to his room, leaving only Fenris, Michaelis and Kaze.  
“So,” Fenrisolace remarked, Kaze letting out a sigh and pulling up a dining chair, next to the pair parallel to the fireplace. “What on earth did that meek little man mean when he said he owned a blessing?”  
Kaze looked at Fenris perplexed, as Michaelis stifled a laugh at this question. “Do sunwolves not know of blessings?” Kaze inquired back to the beastman, who blinked in a confused manner.  
“I am blessed to be a warrior of Doiteain if that’s what you mean!”  
Michaelis began to laugh hysterically, laying horizontally across the arms of his chair.  
“No, Fenris…” Kaze explained sympathetically as if pitying the sunwolf. “Back, many, many years ago, different Gods decided to give blessings to humans. These powers allow people to perform unique abilities, like my own. I have a wind blessing that was passed down from my mother.”  
“Oh!” Fenrisolace jumped from his chair, a beaming smile on his face. “I get it now!” The room began to get hotter, Fenrisolace becoming passionate, beginning to ramble. “Doiteain blessed my father’s father with her beautiful powers of which bring the sun to our fingertips! When it came time to be born from her magical flames, I was chosen as a warrior of the sun, granting me the most powerful blessing of all, just as my father received and his father before him!”  
Michaelis hysterical laughter boomed throughout the entire hall, slamming his hand down onto the arm of his chair repeatedly. Kaze ignored Michaelis’s jest, as he continued to inform Fenrisolace. “Well, yes, I think it’s safe to assume you have a fire blessing, of the enhance type. This means you can manipulate fire to increase your physical strength.”  
“And aura? What did the doctor mean when he said that?” Fenris inquired, approaching Kaze with a gleam in his eyes.  
“O-oh! Well actually, aura is an energy that flows through our blood.” Kaze began, a confident look on his face as he explained the intricacies of their abilities, while Michaelis stood up and approached the table, wiping the tears from his eyes. “So, whenever you eat food, it’s turned into bodily energy. This energy becomes aura, which prevents you from needing to sleep and can even let you go without eating for days. Having aura in your blood makes you stronger than normal, and can be used to perform different techniques or have passive abilities. Ilgar, I assume, has an explosion blessing, and because those explosions don’t benefit his physical capabilities, I think it’s safe to say it’d be an output type blessing, unlike your enhance type.” Kaze finished, looking incredibly proud, while Fenrisolace tilted his head like a confused dog, still smiling.  
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I get it,” Fenris remarked, Michaelis, laughing to himself, approaching the bloody bag on the table.  
“He definitely doesn’t get it,” Michaelis muttered to himself, picking up the small pouch.  
“So with his ability, Ilgar can focus his aura, from what I saw, and when that aura that is launched from his hands comes into contact with something, it detonates. That’s why he was so tired near the end of the fight- using all those blasts took his energy, making him tired. Thanks to the gentleman Curam though, with his survival blessing, he was able to heal us up and restore our energy some.”  
“He didn’t restore my energy.” Michaelis spat, not even looking up as he reached into the small sack.  
“Nor mine, but unlike you dark destroyer, I can handle releasing a number of attacks.” Fenrisolace jabbed towards Mick.  
Kaze began to look a little uncomfortable, he chuckled awkwardly. “Anyways, we should probably get to bed as well, to be ready for tomorrow.” he finished before another fight broke out.  
“One thing, Kaze.” Michaelis paused, as the snow haired young man stood up ready to leave the room. “What about the heart?”  
“What do you mean?” Kaze inquired, “Well now that you mention it, it’s where a person's blessing is stored. The heart pumps blood and aura around the body after all!” He said with confidence, smiling.  
“I assume that’s why Titania kept the Goddess’,” Michaelis stated with a look of slight disgust, lifting the bloody heart from the small bag.  
Kaze gagged as he first glanced to the cold, blue-tinted heart, Fenris simply nodding, still trying to take all of the information in, not interested in the horrific, beating ball of blood.  
“Why do the top dogs in Capital need Gods dead, exactly?” Kaze questioned with a look of disgust on his face.  
“I suppose it doesn’t matter, does it?” Michaelis muttered, putting the heart back in the bag. “We’re here to kill and get paid. Not to ask questions.”  
Kaze shuffled his feet as he approached his room, looking back to Michaelis who stared at the bloody bag, simply resting on the table.

Chapter Six  
Fenrisolace wolfed down a leg of meat, his fangs tearing it apart, piece by piece. Kaze looked on in awe as the drumstick was decimated, the warrior’s sleeves still shredded and torn from the battle the day previous. Fenris’s destruction of his meal caused Michaelis to look on from the sidelines, only in disgust, as he ate his own fill.  
“So uh,” The snow haired man began, still in shock with Fenris’s evisceration of his breakfast, “Like I said, eating this food should make you less tired and restore whatever aura you burned through yesterday.”  
Michaelis ignored the swordsman, looking to the beastman, appalled. “Where’s Titania? I want to get out there and forget all of... this.”  
“She’s not in her room,” Karrow remarked, approaching from the guild leaders quarters. “She left this food out this mornin’, and seems to have stepped out.”  
Kaze looked to the bedroom of the orc, “And Ilgar? He’s still here right?”  
“Haven’t you looked outside?” Michaelis condescended.  
The swordsman took to his feet, pushing himself out from the table, the legs of his chair squeaking against the floorboards. He approached the grand doors of the grand hall, pushing them open and stepping outside, his sandals clapping against his heels with each step. A strong scent of burning wafted through the air, as the swordsman rested his wrist on the pommel of his longsword, turning to his right to find Ilgar.  
The orc’s grip was tight, his left hand wrapped around his mechanical right wrist. Yellow jolts of electricity occasionally sparked, but they weren’t very intimidating compared to the red rage that painted the green god hunter's face.  
“Are you okay, Ilgar?” Kaze inquired as he approached the orc from behind, who turned on his heels with sweat beading from his shiny head.  
“No.” He spat, releasing his grip on his wrist, staring at the palm of his metal hand. “My explosions won’t come out. It’s broken.”  
“I doubt it’s broken, you can still move your arm, it’s all in your head,” The orc’s friend explained, before attempting to place a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.  
“No!” Ilgar yelled, causing the meek warrior to flinch, “It’s broken!” He bellowed at the smaller man, before stomping back inside. His large feet caused quakes within the guildhall as he took a seat next to Fenrisolace, tearing into the meat on the table in just as ravenous a manner as the beastman.  
Kaze walked back inside after the orc, face red and upset. He sat down opposite Fenrisolace once again, grabbing a small chunk of meat with his bare hand and sliding it in his mouth as he stared at the floor.  
“Who left the door open?” Titania asked herself as she entered the guildhall, pushing inside, sword at her waist. The leader of the group looked up to her warriors with a smile, as she gave them all a wave. “Good Morning everyone!”  
No one would reply, aside from Karrow who waved back as the only one not tearing into the food left out. “Cool…” Titania muttered, as she rubbed her metal gauntlets together. “Well regardless, I hope you’re all ready to head out, but we have something to establish beforehand!”  
The snow-white and ash-black haired warriors finally looked to the guild leader, as Fenris and Ilgar continued decimating whatever food remained on the table. A set of armour would clink, a pair of metallically dressed feet stepping into the guildhall. Even Fenris and Ilgar looked up at this point, as a man bearing a knights gear walked into the guild.  
Armour silver and shining, with cobalt rims flowing along the edges, a sharp helmet with fins flowing along the sides and the top of the head. His armour seemed bulky, with a blade at his hip with golden rims around the sheath.  
“Hello, my name is Naix, I look forward to working with you all.” The knight stated profoundly, with a very posh and proper tone, bowing to the rest of the guild members.  
Fenris would swallow a lump of meat with a struggle, as no one said anything, continuing to stare at the warrior.  
Titania would clear her throat, “This is Naix, and he will be joining us from this day forward. He had agreed to join a couple of days prior but he had some things to take care of beforehand, so he is only joining us now.  
“Uhm,” Michaelis began, standing up and approaching the knight from the table, “You need armour? I mean- not that there’s anything wrong with armour but it looks very bulky- is it even that protective?”  
“Well if I don’t bear armour, my chance of injury is much greater,” Naix explained, looking at the metal gauntlets which covered his arms.  
“It’s fine Michaelis, his aura power isn’t the highest, but he can handle himself in a fight- he’s smart,” Titania explained, interjecting as Michaelis’s face became one of which was ready to berate again. “He’ll do fine with the rest of you, probably.” Titania let out a deep sigh, “Hopefully.”  
“With that out of the way, everyone grab your equipment. We’ll be leaving within the hour.” Titania finished, clapping her metal hands together. She would stretch her body out as she walked towards her room.  
Fenris and Ilgar went back to feasting, as Kaze approached Naix, who would look around himself, shuffling his metal greaves. “It’s nice to meet you, uh, Naix right?” The swordsman greeted, offering his hand to shake.  
Michaelis sneered at the pair as he left for his room, stretching his arms high above his head, yawning deeply. The snow haired man rolled his eyes to Mick, as the knight grasped Kaze’s hand, who returned a smile to the helmet in front of him.  
“It’s lovely to meet you as well, I hope we can get along great.” The knight replied, bowing his head again. The less-armoured swordsman continued to smile, as he looked around and behind Naix.  
“Did you bring anything with you? Any bags or anything?” The greeter asked as he peered over the soldier’s shoulder.  
“Ah, no, I don’t really have any possessions worth anything aside from the armour on my back and the blade at my hip.” The knight chuckled, as he noticed Kaze’s sword attached to his hip, “Ah! You’re a swordsman as well? What sort of ability does your sword have?”  
“Ah, well,” The mercenary drew his longsword from his hip, a pained smile now resting on his face. “It’s a lightning blessing. This weapon means a lot to me, it’s…” He paused, looking intently to the sword, “It’s a gift from my father.”  
“I understand that,” Naix remarked, sympathetic as he drew his broadsword from his waist, “This is my own weapon, a fire blessing, also passed down to me from my parentage.” He spoke, regal, pronounced and proud.  
“Ohh!” Kaze looked at the blade with great interest, inspecting it from different angles, “I haven’t seen many weapons like this in my travels of the main continent.” He remarked, sheathing his own blade.  
“Really?” Naix inquired, inspecting his own sword.  
“I was going to say,” Karrow mentioned as he approached the pair, “From what I have seen here in Baile and even in Capital, the weapons tend to be a lot more curved, whereas both of your weapons and even Titania’s can be utilised from both sides.”  
“Where are you from Naix?” The politer Godhunter inquired, obviously pleased to make conversation with someone more normal.  
“Ah, well that is…” Naix stuttered, obviously concerned with speaking further.  
“Forget I asked,” Kaze quickly cut him off, still a sympathetic expression on his face, “I understand not wanting to go into one's past, I can share that sentiment.”  
“Thank you, Uhh, sorry, I didn’t catch your name?” The knight inquired.  
“Kaze, Kaze Odaya.” He replied, with a bow of his own.  
“I assume you can take any of these rooms,” The sand user stated, “When we all first arrived here three days ago we were just told to grab one of the dozen or so rooms along the walls.” He finished explaining, pointing to the room next to his own.  
“You’re too hospitable.” The knight stated, bowing again causing the snow haired swordsman to chuckle, who then approached an empty room and brought himself in.  
“I don’t like him,” Fenris remarked, all of the food completely gone from the table, the beastman leaning on the surface via his elbow, “He’s too stuck up, I wouldn’t even call him a warrior.”  
Kaze would exhale deeply as he went to his bedroom, Karrow biting his own lower lip. “Well you’re not entirely wrong,” The sand wielder agreed, “He’s got a vibe from him, I doubt he’s even done mercenary work. Probably just some city guard somewhere with rich parents.”  
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Fenrisolace stated with a meaty grin, as he began climbing up onto the table Ilgar rest his head-on. The little cutlery and plates rattled together as he clambered to his feet, clenching his fuzzy fist as he stared to the doors. “Because no matter what happens today, I’ll be obliterating another God.”

Chapter Seven  
Naix and Titania’s greaves clinked upon the stone pathway as they exited the guild. The party stepped through the village known as Baile’s marketplace, dozens of stalls set up selling a variety of foods and different living and adventuring supplies.  
“Where are we headed to, exactly, Titania?” Kaze pestered, walking alongside the guild leader, the heels of his feet slapping against his sandals.  
“I’m hungry,” Fenris added, his wet black nose sniffing the air for the different delicious foods.  
“We’re heading to the beach, next to the harbour,” Titania replied, ignoring the wolfman who had begun drooling. “According to our source, who was correct last time, the God of Sand should be stationed there.”  
“Sand? That’s your blessing, right Karrow?” Kaze inquired, looking back to his ally.  
“What? No, I turn my aura into crushed earth, I use an earth blessing.”  
“What’s the difference?” Michaelis sneered at the black-cloaked warrior, who stared daggers back.  
“Sand is just crushed rock anyways, are you sure there actually is a God of sand?” Karrow questioned the guild leader, condescending her.  
“At the very least, there’s a being with a powerful ability to manipulate sand at this beach, and we’re being paid to make him drop. The details aren’t important.” Titania explained as the group exited the marketplace, arriving at the harbour of the village.  
“Details are still nice,” Kaze muttered to himself, kicking the ground. At the same time as this conversation, Fenris and Ilgar walked at the back of the group. The orc stared at his mechanical hand, as the beastman held the back of his head with his clasped iron gauntlets.  
“Why are you so down, green man?” The wolfman asked, looking to the ocean. It was vast and a deep, clear blue, with an enormous dock of ships, with a golden sandy beach as bright as the sun.  
“What?” Ilgar spat, looking to the grey godhunter to his right, “You don’t know? You fed my arm to a dog, you dog!”  
“You should’ve known your limits, green man,” Fenris replied, as the guild walked down a set of dark wood stairs, their feet reaching the beach.  
Titania and Naix’s boots sank into the sand, as Fenrisolace’s eyes widened, stepping harder into the grains at his feet, intrigued.  
“You are an asshole,” Ilgar growled at the wolf, who would ignore him, continuing to dance along the crushed earth cove.  
The beach went on for what seemed like miles, the glimmering ground contrasting against the grey cobblestone seawall multiple meters tall. “There aren’t a lot of people on this beach, are there?” Kaze commented, seeming perplexed.  
“I see that too,” Titania muttered, noticing a pair of people sitting idly on the sand, leaning against the towering seawall.  
Michaelis approached the man and woman, staring down at them from above. “Good morning to you both, how are you this gorgeous day?” The crimson eyed warrior greeted, affectionately with a bow.  
Kaze and Karrow looked on in awe as Michaelis politely took the man's palm and kissed the back of his hand, to the couple’s confusion.  
“We’re doing fine.” The woman snarled, watching as the frightening-looking man grabbed her partners own, the very man now blushing. “What do you want?”  
Michaelis’s gaze switched to the woman, who had chocolate brown hair and amber skin, he smiled to her, “I apologise, I suppose I should have greeted such an attractive woman with an equal amount of awe.” He commented, taking back his hands and putting them in his pockets. “My associates and I are looking for someone in this area and were wondering if we could ask you some questions.”  
Titania grimaced as she watched Michaelis at work, while Fenrisolace continued dancing in the sand, wonder and joy painting his face.  
“Who do you happen to be looking for?” The woman asked, now standing to her feet as the man she was with leaned back, placing both hands on the sand at his sides.  
“It may sound slightly ridiculous, but it happens to be a God. Anything or anyone come to mind?” Michaelis explained with a smile, which became unnerving as the warrior placed his hand at his hip, on his dagger.  
“No idea, bud.” The woman stated, stomping forward and shoving Michaelis back slightly. “So why don’t you and your buddies get lost?”  
Michaelis’s unnerving smile stayed stagnant, as he drew his knife from his hip, Titania looking aghast as she began to stomp towards her unleashed dog. “Don’t you do anything stupid!” She bellowed to him, rage painting her face.  
The woman stared Michaelis down with complete rage, and little fear, the godhunter simply continuing to smile back. His knife was now in hand, as its chains clashed against one another, slinking to the sand that Mick’s feet sank into.  
The crimson eyed maniac thrust his blade towards the woman, whose arms raised in front of her chest in the shape of a cross, a shard of glass double the woman's size erupting from the earth for the blade to clash against.  
Titania stopped her stomp as she looked on in shock, the ash-haired warrior’s dagger barely scratching the glass wall, as the man behind the woman stood up, lifting a massive lance from the sand at his feet.  
“Damn.” The man muttered, pushing his blonde hair back with his left hand, as he lifted a towering black weapon from the ground with golden trims flowing along it.  
“You’re insane!” The woman yelled aghast, as she flung both of her arms behind herself, her face painted with shock and anger.  
“What just happened!” Kaze shouted as the rest of the Godhunters turned their full attention onto the pair before them.  
“I got close enough to realise that her aura is massive,” Michaelis remarked, bringing his blade back to his side. “Also, the complete lack of fear kind of threw me off.”  
“So she's the God?” Ilgar yelled, reeling his left arm back, yellow static flowing around his palm.  
Mick’s eye twitched, looking to the ground, around himself and stepping back slowly. “No…” He muttered, turning towards the coast of the beach.  
Karrow and Naix stood near the water, as Michaelis’s eyes widened. “Run!” He screamed, the pair looking on in confusion.  
A wave formed behind the pair from the ocean, but not one of the water. A mountain of rock and dust towered behind the pair from the liquid just behind their feet, beginning to crash down on the pair from above.  
Karrow turned on his heels towards the wave, leaving imprints in the sand as the area around the pair began to turn dark. His eyes widened with fright as he slammed his arms into the air, crushed earth flowing from his sleeves, forming into a massive hand. The palm of the sandstone hand slammed against the tsunami of debris, Naix dashing away towards the rest of the group, his armour rattling as he attempted to run.  
“Shit!” Karrow exclaimed, as the tomb began to close in on the warrior, Ilgar launching a yellow beam of light towards the glass that opposed Michaelis.  
The dark-eyed warrior hopped backwards as his sights were turned from Karrow’s struggle to Ilgar’s conquest. The blast slammed into the pane, detonating and sending dust flying around the impact area. However, the glass only appeared blackened, as the man and woman continued to stand behind it, ready to be attacked.  
Ilgar looked to his flesh hand with despair as he looked back to his failed strike, with Fenrisolace slamming his iron fists together with horrific glee, despite how poorly things were appearing.  
“Karrow!” Titania bellowed, turning on her heels only to receive a sharp stab to her left bicep. Her armour crunched as the shadow coloured lance had completely stabbed into her arm.  
“You piece of-” Titania began, drawing her sword from her hip as she began to wince, the area around her wound beginning to freeze up as ice formed across her arm. She swung in the direction of her attacker, a powerful gust of wind erupting from the swing, sending him back behind the glass pane cover, which no one had ever seen him move past in the first place. He took his lance with him, pulling it from the guild leaders arm, who was unable to even bleed, her gaping stab wound completely frozen over.  
The man fighting the tsunami of stone ended up overtaken by the tidal wave of coast, his sand fist being turned completely to dust, completely burying him. “Karrow!” Kaze yelled, rushing to the settling beach, only for Michaelis to yell after him.  
“Stop!” He shouted, biting the knuckle of his thumb, as the red kimono wearing warrior pulled to a halt. From the ocean, a being emerged, with a cyan cloak draping over his head and torso. His skin was blue, his arms and legs thin as if there was little more than bone, with shorts made with the same material as the rest of his cloak, golden bands wrapping around his thighs.  
“Good morning on this gorgeous day, God Hunters!” He remarked, face completely covered by darkness, as he landed on the ground where Karrow had been submerged. “I see you’ve met my daughter.”  
Michaelis, Kaze and Naix faced the horrific monster that had buried their ally, while Fenrisolace and Titania stood opposing his daughter and the man who had run the guild leader through.  
“Ilgar!” Titania yelled, in pain, “Get a hold of yourself!”  
The orc’s face snapped upwards, as he had realised what he was missing while staring at his contrasted palms, the faces of the entire guild in fear, aside from one man.  
Fenrisolace dashed towards the glass pane, his gauntlets turning red as he slammed his fists through the clear wall, smashing it to pieces as the pair beyond the wall stepped back slightly, preparing to attack back.  
The man’s body tensed up as he thrust his lance towards Fenrisolace, only to be unable to hit as the fuller of Titania’s blade stopped the strike. “Don’t lose your place. You’re fighting me.” She growled, the man reeling his weapon back.  
“Oh, I can help with that!” The turquoise attacker remarked with glee, as he lifted his right arm into the air. Kaze, Naix and Mick flinched immediately, Michaelis’s onyx black eyes twitching, as he turned to the rest of the guild.  
“Dodge!” Michaelis bellowed, Titania’s eyes widening as she leapt many meters into the air. At the same time, Fenrisolace and Ilgar received a blow to the side, as the pair launched through the air with a yell. A triad of massive sandstone fists had erupted from the earth, hitting the now flying pair, and missing the guild leader herself.  
“Thank you, father!” The woman bellowed, the sand around her feet rising, as she rode a mound of beach like a wave, following after the two Godhunters who were launched through the sky.  
Titania would bend her knees as she prepared to make chase, only to be forced to clash her blade once more with the grand spear she had been stabbed through with before.  
“You’re really going to leave me hanging after what you said?” The man remarked, the blades shaking within both parties' hands.  
The remaining Godhunters looked on with fear at the being who had swallowed their ally whole, aside from Kaze. The snow-haired swordsman’s face was painted only with rage.

Chapter Eight  
Fenrisolace’s feet touched the ground, turning on their heels as he skidded across the beach beneath his feet, leaving an indent in the sand. “Alright green man, on your feet, we’ve got a fight on our hands,” he commented, clenching his fists with his hands ever so slightly open.  
Ilgar would still be flying through the air, before slamming into the ground with a thud, dust flying through the air as he impacted just behind the beastman. The demi-goddess was close behind, the mound of sand she rode coming to a stand still and sinking into the rest of the earth. The woman stretched her limbs out, as Fenrisolace chuckled to himself, bringing his fists close to his face, Ilgar scrambling to his feet.  
The sunwolf dashed forward, towards his target, reeling his right arm back, his metal gauntlet shining under the bright sun.  
“Seriously?” The woman muttered, rocketing her left palm into the air. In front of her a wall of glass slid upwards through the sand, only for Fenris to slam his fist directly into it.  
The sunwolf smashed the pane to pieces as he landed on the other side, the woman directly in front of him. The demi-god thrusted her right index and middle fingers diagonally into the air from her side. A shard of glass rocketed through the ground and slashed past Fenris’s face, leaving a large gash on his left cheek before he could react.  
The beastman rubbed his bloody fur with his left gauntlet, staining the metal as the woman had rode her sand like a wave once more, this time to retreat as she giggled to herself.  
“You’re very ignorant, wolf-boy,” The woman taunted, eyeing the sunwolf up and down, “I’m the demi-goddess of sand it self, Shati, and you assumed I wouldn’t respond to you punching through my glass wall like you just did minutes ago?” The woman stifled a laugh as Fenrisolace’s rage grew, Ilgar approaching him from behind and charging energy within his left hand.  
“I’m going to shatter her.” Fenris muttered, raising his hands to his face.  
“She’s quick.” Ilgar commented, a ball of light now present in his left hand.  
“That’s why we’re going to find out just how quick.” Fenris spat as shuffled his feet, the woman yawning as she snaked her left arm towards the ground. A glass pole emerged from the sand, sliding into Shati’s palm, the tip of the polearm a spearhead.  
Fenrisolace huffed, reeling his right arm back, and planting his left arm in the air as if to aim with it. “Watch closely, green man, you’re going to see one of my special techniques,” and with that comment, the sunwolf thrust his right fist forward with immense speed, the gauntlet detaching with a click at the height of momentum, launching straight towards Shati.  
Ilgar whistled as the iron fist barrelled through the air, the demi goddess simply stepping to the right, laughing some more. Fenrisolace smirked, as the fist past the Goddess’s head, he turned on his heels and twisted his hip, throwing a right hook right behind his body. The hot, fuzzy fist brushed the orc’s nose as the iron gauntlet spun in midair to mimic Fenris’s movements, slamming into the back of the Goddess’s head.  
The beastman pumped his left fist as he opened his right palm, turning back to his target as the gauntlet began rocketing back towards him, caught by being equipped midair. The beastman began sliding backwards as the momentum of the gauntlet was caught, pure glee on the wolf’s fanged face.  
“Piece of shit!” Shati yelled, turning to the pair as the ground beneath them shook. She clenched her right fist in front of her, “I’m going to drop you!” She continued to bellow, as she swiped her hand to the left, a dozen large shards flying from the ground towards the pair.  
Ilgar threw his orb of light to the left, dipping to the right while grabbing Fenris with his flesh palm, whilst the ball detonated. The pair shielded their faces from the explosion as black, charred shards continued flying towards the pair, slicing up their limbs and torso’s.  
“Son of a bitch!” Fenris shouted, looking angrily to Ilgar, “Why are your explosions so weak! You blew up a dragon’s head yesterday for Gods sake!”  
“I’m right handed!” The orc shouted, face beginning to flush red.  
“Then use your right hand, dumbass!” The beastman continued to yell, as the demi-goddess rubbed the back of her head, covered in blood, confused at the sudden quarrel.  
“This arm doesn’t work!” Ilgar continued to roar, waving his metal limb around, creaking as the joints swiveled. “I could use my right arm, if someone didn’t throw it away like trash!”  
A massive shard of glass erupted from the earth behind Fenris, taking a chunk out of his left bicep, the attack barely missing Ilgar who leapt out of the way. The beastman howled in pain as blood began to fountain from his massive gash, the wolfman smashing the glass with a red-hot metal fist from his right arm. He glared at the Goddess once more, clutching the air.  
“I don’t care anymore green man,” Fenris spoke softly and sternly, “Just back me up.”  
The beastman dashed towards the demi-goddess, Ilgar charging another ball of energy in his left hand. Shati spun the polearm in her left hand as she giggled to herself, aiming her right palm towards the sunwolf.  
Ilgar sighed softly, looking determined as he gripped the ball of light in his hand tight, his fingers digging into it. The yellow ball began to flow from his palm to his fingertips, slowly turning from yellow to orange and finally a deep red.  
“Poppy seed!” He shouted, swinging his arm through the air as five different balls of energy rocketed past Fenris, who continued to dash, and towards the demi-god.  
Shati simply swung her hand upwards, another glass wall forming, the red dots impacting with small bursts of energy, doing no damage to the construct at all. However her vision was blinded, and as she stood confidently, Fenrisolace was in the air above her, having jumped her wall this time.  
The demi-god’s eyes shot upwards, as she thrust her spear into the air, Fenris slamming his grey, fluffy fist into the blade, causing some blood to leak as the glass began shattering. The demi-god smirked confidently, as the iron gauntlet flew down towards her from above. She released her weapon from her grip and dipped to the right to avoid the massive impact, dust flying where the fist struck, as Fenris landed on the ground, pulling the weapon from his hand.  
“I’ve got you now.” The sunwolf muttered, lifting his fist armour and clicking it back into place over his bloody fist. He brought his slightly open fists just above his head as he ducked low, swiftly dashing forward.  
Shati quickly raised a thinner glass wall on her left like a shield that extended from the very ground, but as Fenris approached he swung his left fist, which began erupting crimson, the metal fist slamming into his target’s right arm which was quickly raised to block the blow.  
The demi-goddess slid across the beach under her feet, the sand taking her farther away to gain distance, as her impacted limb began to turn completely purple, blood leaking from her forearm.  
Fenris smiled deeply, steam draping off of his body as he panted softly, Ilgar catching up to him, with cuts across his body from the previous attack. “You look like you’re out of puff, beastman.”  
“That’s because…” Fenris paused to take a breath, “You haven’t done anything useful! I expected her to be a lot weaker, but I can’t do this alone.”  
“It’s not my fault this arm is broken!” Ilgar barked, only for Fenris to glare back at him, angry.  
Shati gripped her new injury, wincing to the touch, “You need to understand, green man,” Fenris began as he stood tall, taking another large puff of air, “That the last time you fought you were foolish, going ahead and expending everything you had and then continuing to fight pointlessly.” Ilgar looked on, his face morphing, angry and upset.  
“You lost your arm, I get it’s upsetting,” The beastman remarked, his angry demeanor dropping, “But you need to understand that no matter how many limbs you lose, no matter how badly you get beaten down, in the end you need to stand once more, or people will die.” Fenris took another deep breath, smiling to himself. “I’ve seen comrades and family die, and all because I couldn’t stand up after I was downed. There are moments you should hold back, and let others do their job.” Fenris raised his arms in front of his face, his left arm more shakely, “And moments you need to step forward, no matter how broken or damaged you are.” The beastman yelled, a toothy grin on his face.  
“Because you are a sunwolf!” He shouted, the demi-goddess slamming both of her arms to either side of her body, “You are the most powerful warrior this planet has ever seen, and whenever others need you there to protect them, or when Doiteain herself requires a tribute-” Fenrisolace’s entire body would ignite in immense orange flames, causing Ilgar to take a step back, the fire bursting around him, “You throw another punch, and make that punch the hardest punch you’ve ever thrown!”  
Shati slammed her palms together, three titanic walls of glass erupting from the sand beneath, at least 10ft tall and wide and a meter thick each. The demi-goddess separated her hands, before slamming her palms forward towards the pair, the walls flying towards the duo at high speeds.  
Fenris threw his right arm back, all of the flames on his body snaking around and flowing directly to his iron fist, the fire turning a vast powerful red.  
“Infernal Fist!” The sunwolf yelled, joy covering his entire being. Ilgar looked on in awe as the flames flashed meters from his eyes. Fenris stomped his left foot forward, bringing his right arm forward in a punch that took enough effort that it seemed as if Fenrisolace was pulling tonnes of weight by a single chain. The punch then exploded, a burst of hot air pushing the pair back as the iron fist completely coated in fire, glowing a hot red launched towards the three walls, aiming for the head of their target.  
Shati smiled softly, her arms still raised in the air as Ilgar looked at his own arm, his metal palm as he had done over the course of the entire day. The orc clenched his fist, yellow lightning flowing to it from his shoulder. He opened his fist, smoke beginning to flow from his hand as veins began popping on the orcs head, a faint light emitting from the centre of his palm, before the orc looked at the battle of skill taking place.  
The gauntlet shattered a hole directly through the first wall, but would only dig half a meter into the second, the momentum and flames continuing to attempt to push it forward, Fenris pushing his right fist as far forward as possible without his feet moving, steam pouring from his body.  
Ilgar reeled his right arm back as far as he could, aiming the metal palm behind himself as a large yellow ball of light appeared at the very tip of his limb. His eyes glowed with life and a toothy grin as large as the wolfs drew across the orcs face, his lower tusks stretching up his face and a beaming smile as complete excitement hits Ilgar like a truck.  
Ilgar dragged the ball of light forward, before slamming directly towards his target with full force, the sphere of energy shaking alongside the orcs metal arm, electricity flowing across the metal frame.  
“Sunflower!”  
With that cry, a massive beam of yellow light rocketed through the air, smashing through the first wall, engulfing the iron fist. The flaming metal hand basked in an immense light, propelling it forward through the next two layers of glass, heading directly towards Shati’s face. Dread painted across her as she raised her arms in front of her face, the fist blasting through them with little effort, before completely eviscerating her entire head.  
Blood splattered across the golden grains, the tide painting scarlet as it came in and swept away the remnants of annihilation. Both Ilgar and Fenrisolace panted, as the metal gauntlet rolled along the beach back towards the beastman, who bent his knees and lifted it, snapping it into place over his bloody, furry fist.  
“Nice work, green man,” Fenrisolace commented, smiling as he looked up to his fellow mercenary.  
“It works.” Ilgar stated, clenching his metal fist in triumph in front of himself, smoke still smoldering from his palm. “How did you do that with your metal gloves though?” Ilgar asked, being as curious as ever.  
“Oh well, you know,” Fenris began, holding the gash on his left arm as the pair began to walk back to where they came from, “It’s a family heirloom. I assume it’s blessed, Kaze explained the whole thing to me yesterday, though I don’t entirely get it.”  
Ilgar tilted his head in confusion, a grin still on his face. Fenris laughed back at this reaction, “Looks like you’re as clueless as I am, though it doesn’t matter does it?” The wolfman continued, wincing slightly due to his injuries, before laughing some more, “Because regardless of our understanding of our abilities, we’re still the most powerful warriors this world will ever see!”  
The beastman would raise his left arm in the air, as Ilgar raises his own metal one, the pair bumping the sides of their fists together as they continue trotting back to the rest of their guild.

Chapter Nine  
Clashing of steel echoed across the sandy shore, as the sun burned high in the sky with a powerful heat. Kaze swam through the air as his sandals slapped against the grains beneath his feet, his longsword smashing against a sandstone pillar that had erupted from the earth.  
“He’s incredible!” Naix sputtered from under his helmet, as Kaze blocked and parried every attack. The God raised his left hand into the air as a dozen sand knives emerged from below, floating for a moment before launching towards Kaze.  
The swordsman stood firm as his lime eyes burned like embers, outstretching his arm to his right, sword held tightly in his hand. “Fifth Stance.” He stated with conviction, as he aimed his left hand towards his opponent, uninterested in the attacks rocketing towards him as blue sparks flowed along his blade. Seconds passed like minutes as the Gods attack had finally reached its mark, with Kaze sweeping his blade horizontally, cracking like a bolt of lightning as all of the blades fell apart to the earth below separated grain by grain.  
The snow-haired godhunter flipped his blade in his hand, holding it in a reverse grip before bringing it behind himself. “Second Stance.” He commanded himself, again aiming his left hand towards the God, before he began sprinting at an incredible speed.  
Sand began to flow from Kaze’s opponents blue, brittle-looking feet, flowing to and around his back as he began spinning his hands through the air, as if shaping the wind. “This is getting interesting…” He muttered to himself as he slammed his fists to either side of his body, sand enveloping his fists and arms entirely, before hardening into sturdy stone gauntlets. “Show me what you’re made of, Mercenary!”  
The God broke into a sprint towards the Godhunter, his fists flying behind himself as he dashed across the beach like a bullet. As the gap closed, he thrust his right fist dead ahead, only for Kaze to swipe his blade up and block the strike, chipping away some of the sand, before flipping his sword back to a regular grip as it flowed up towards his left shoulder, slamming down from above causing the sand-wielder to bring his right forearm up to block the strike, the impact causing him to slide across the beach.  
“How can he stand against power like that?” Michaelis sputtered, jaw-dropped.  
“It’s true he doesn’t have power, but his swordsmanship…” Naix replied, looking on in just as much awe, “I’ve never seen anyone that can strike as clean and smooth.”  
Kaze and the God exchanged blow after blow, deflecting punches, blocking counters yet neither landing a hit. “And Titania?” Michaelis muttered, biting the knuckle of his thumb.  
“She chased that guy up into town, I doubt she needs our support, but at this point does he?” Naix stated, still in shock at Kaze’s intense flurry against the deity.  
As a left hook that flew towards Kaze was blocked with the fuller of the longsword, a burst of sand flew through the air. A cyclone of coast erupted from the earth, slamming into the side of the kimono wearing warrior, catching him off guard and knocking him to the water. A large wound was now present on Kaze’s right ribs, after the blast had torn through his clothing, his bruise black and red, weeping blood.  
Kaze spat into the ocean as he held his blade tight in his right hand. “I’m just getting started!” He exclaimed with a sinister tone, swinging his sword into the air to his right, before bringing it down, resting it on his shoulders and aiming his left hand towards the God. “First Stance.”  
The God looked in Kaze’s direction, as something burst from the earth next to him. Karrow, covered in blood, water and earth erupted from the beach, with a blade of sand wrapping his left hand, stabbing directly into the Gods head.  
The blade thrust into the hood of the cloak, only for the hood to fall down. There was no target within, only a thin blue neck with floating particles of sand where the creatures head should be.  
“Nice try!” The deity exclaimed condescendingly, his left gauntlets fist turning into a blade.  
“No!” Kaze shouted, his hand lowering as Michaelis threw his chain blade towards the pair of sand-users. Kaze looked on in shock as Karrow was run through the chest, blood spouting from his mouth. “But I think your blade is a bit dull. Even if I had a head, I doubt it could’ve gotten as far as mine has.”  
Michaelis appeared in the air next to the two, launching a roundhouse kick with his left leg towards God, only for it to be caught between his powerful sandstone fist. “I am the God of sand, Gaineamh.” He stated, as he began crushing Mick’s leg, Naix dashing to join in on the combat. “And I will destroy you all!”  
Naix’s sword burned bright, with a yellow flame as it slammed upwards against the arm gripping Michaelis, causing the grip to falter, allowing him to fall and dash backwards, limping on his caught ankle. Kaze leapt down on the other limb from above, wielding his weapon in both hands, before slamming the blade down on the Gods elbow. The arm crumpled from the pressure, exploding blue energy erupting from the blade, as the snapping of bones echoed upon the sword's impact. Blood spouted from cracks in the struck armour, as the God leapt away, Karrow falling to his knees before landing face first in the beach below.  
“Karrow!” Kaze shouted, beginning to lift his ally by his shoulders, complete upset and shock taking refuge in his eyes. But just after, Michaelis grabbed his allies arm, teleporting the pair of them towards Naix, the God raising his hand into the air. The maw of a crocodile emerged from the sand, consuming Karrow with a clench of his fist barely missing the other two Godhunters who had just transported away.  
“I’m going to kill him.” Kaze growled, looking towards Gaineamh with complete rage, as Karrow’s body emerged from the falling apart jaw. The Godhunter’s body was red with blood, barely recognisable from what he once was. Lightning began flowing along Kaze’s blade, howling with power, the wind around Kaze beginning to roar with force, flowing around him like an aura.  
“I never expected him to be capable of this.” Michaelis sputtered, in complete awe as Kaze’s white hair flowed upwards, raised by the wind.  
“We can’t just sit by and do nothing!” Naix shouted, his boots sinking into the coast as he stomped behind Kaze, raising his own sword into the air, a yellow flame erupting from the hilt to the tip of the blade.  
Michaelis bit the knuckle of his thumb as he looked to his leg injury, before slamming the same leg forward in front of himself, following behind his fellow Godhunters.  
Kaze reversed his grip on his blade once more, bringing it behind himself, “Second Stance,” He exclaimed, his stomp immediately turning into a dash, as Kaze lowered his body and the wind danced like a bullet. Gaineamh snapped his left arm into the air, more blood spouting out as more snapping sounds were made. His hood lifted itself over the particles that floated where his head should be, as he aimed the same arm towards the oncoming storm approaching him. The sandstone hand turned from a blade into a hand once again, with the palm open, before the arm was rocketed into the air. Crimson red staining the earthen fist, as scarlet leaked and dripped down the sides of the gauntlet.  
“Show me what you’re made of, God Hunters! Because so far I’m disappointed!” The deity exclaimed, as a sandstorm just like the one before burst from the coast just in front of Kaze, ramming straight into the warrior. In a single slash, the tornado turned to nothing but dust, Kaze sprinting through it swiftly, in what felt like a moment he was suddenly right in front of Gaineamh.  
His blade raised high in the air to his left as it was before, he slammed it down on the God from above. Gaineamh raised his arms above his head, crossing them as the blade slammed down and pushed him into the sand around his feet, his arm spouting more blood. The God knocked the blade upwards, bringing his arms to both of his sides as he dashed forward, thrusting his right fist towards the Godhunter.  
His blade fell to Kaze’s left hip in the reverse grip of his right hand, his left hand at his side too. The God stopped in his tracks before his punch could land, Kaze’s lime eyes shined with fury as energy exploded at his hip, “Third Stance.” He stated, before the blade burst upwards from his side and removed Gaineamh’s right hand, causing blood to fountain from what was now his blue stump, the gauntlet around his arm falling apart.  
The deity dropped his right arm to his side as he leapt backwards, “You…” he muttered, clenching his remaining fist tight. Kaze looked dissatisfied, swiping his sword through the air, the blood that stained the steel falling to the ground below.  
The God brought his left hand to the ground below, dipping it into the beach and retrieving a sword, of incredible size. A dadao, with a crisp white blade. The entire weapon was at least five feet long, with a pure white and blue handle, which he gripped tight in his left hand, aiming the sword towards his opponent.  
Kaze aimed his left hand forward, bringing his right hand far back, his sword aimed forward with the metal resting against his cheek. “Fourth Stance.” He took a single leap forward, thrusting his blade forward as hard as he could, only for the strike to be blocked by the side of the grand weapon the deity held. The snow haired warrior brought his weapon back to his side, and began slashing at intense speeds, Gaineamh’s arm moving with insane reactions, blocking every strike that came his way.  
“I said we should help too,” Naix commented, “but at this rate we’ll just get in his way. I didn’t realise he was so incredible though.” The knight continued, in awe of Kaze’s speed and power.  
“That’s not what’s important now, what about the God?” Michaelis stated, watching from the sidelines alongside the heavily armoured mercenary.  
“What do you mean?”  
“He seemed like a raw power type, like Fenrisolace. Sure he has some tricks here and there, but I wasn’t expecting him to be a swordsman.”  
“Raw power type?” Naix replied with confusion, as Michaelis bit the knuckle of his thumb once again.  
“If you look at Kaze, he isn’t the most powerful especially compared to the likes of Fenris, and at least from what we say yesterday, Ilgar.” The shadow-themed warrior remarked, as none of Kaze’s strikes landed, the God not even attempting to hit back. “Kaze’s strength is all in technique, trained skills, and those different stances. These guys are all different breeds.”  
Naix looked to Mick, before returning his gaze to the battle, “He looks like his sword is dragging him.” The knight commented, as Michaelis’s eyes widened.  
“Wait…” The man gripped his chain blade as he looked onwards at the fight, “You’re completely correct. He isn’t a swordsman, that sword is purely defensive. Titania was right, you aren’t completely useless.” Michaelis snickered, thrusting his dagger towards the clashing tornados of power.  
Naix reached his arm out in worry as Michaelis appeared above the pair, slamming his dagger down from above, the sword sweeping upwards. The grand blade dragged the deity with it as it blocked the piercing strike from above. The deity didn’t even have time to look up, as Kaze slashed across his chest, blood beginning to erupt. Michaelis teleported away as a pair of sand spears erupted from the ground towards him, the God stumbling as he held his sword high.  
“That’s his weakness!” Naix exclaimed, as Michaelis landed on the ground with a thud, holding his injury.  
“How can he keep fighting with damage like that?” The limping mercenary muttered, holding his leg as he watched Kaze continue his onslaught of attacks, “He has completely taken the pace of this fight, but that blow to his ribs from earlier wasn’t nothing.”  
Naix lifted his blade behind his shoulder, holding it like a javelin as it was ignited in a sun-like blaze, before it was launched towards the God like a spear. The massive weapon knocked the attack away, the sword landing behind him as he continued blocking Kaze’s attacks, his legs beginning to quake as Kaze began to bead with sweat, panting in between every blow.  
“We need to give Kaze an opening now!” Michaelis shouted, still crouched on the ground holding his crushed leg, as Naix clenched his right fist tight, his blade shaking while stabbed into the ground.  
“We’ve already won!” Naix bellowed, thrusting his hand backwards as if yanking a chain, the ignited, flaming sword spiraling like a saw blade, launching back towards the knight, with the God right in the middle of its path.  
Kaze continued pushing Gaineamh back, before he was spun around on his heels, blocking the blade coming behind himself.  
“No!” The God yelled, fear and anguish in his voice. He couldn’t see it, but he felt it, the eyes Kaze had placed on him. The meek warrior’s emerald eyes burst with life as the sword erupted in blue thunder, being brought to the warriors hip. “Third Stance!” He shouted, a bloody rage in his voice as he stepped forward, his blade slashing upwards the Gods back. The grand dadao swept backwards attempting to block the attack, but at this point Kaze had begun walking towards Karrow’s lifeless body.  
The God’s breath fell ragged, and despite no eyes to cry from, the feeling of a person's last tears boomed throughout the Baile coast. His upper half fell from his lower, blood spouting from the massive gash apparent within both halves of his body, staining the golden grains beneath him ruby red, Kaze sheathing his blade without a stain on it.  
The young man fell to his knees, flipping Karrow’s body onto his back, blood continuing to leak from his torso. His body was lifeless, and his eyes blank as Kaze looked down to his corpse, holding it within his arms. Titania appeared at the top of the seawall, looking down at the scene of carnage from above, enraged beyond belief.  
The kimono-wearing warrior’s eyes were smokey, filling with tears as he looked up to Titania, who threw the man she was fighting's body down onto the sand, the body covered in blood. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” She muttered to herself as Naix and Michaelis simply looked up to her, no words able to leave their mouths.

Chapter Ten  
Titania took a step, falling from the top of the seawall onto the beach, sand flying into the air in a cloud of dust as her greaves slammed onto the coast beneath her feet.  
“Titania…” Kaze cried out softly, holding Karrow’s crimson corpse within his hands. Naix and Michaelis stood away from the swordsman, still in shock as to what had happened moments before, with the beach now stained scarlet.  
“Where are Fenris and Ilgar? Have they made it back yet?” The guild leader inquired, looking to Michaelis who clutched his ankle.  
“We’ve seen them as recently as you have. They haven’t come back yet.” The warrior replied, attempting to stand before losing balance and falling on his rear, clutching his leg tight as he winced.  
“Naix you’re with me, let’s go find them,” Titania commanded, beginning to walk in the direction the pair were launched in, despite the large wound present in her bicep, which was still engulfed in frost.  
As Naix prepared himself to follow after his boss, the pair returned looking chipper than ever, grand smiles stretched across their faces, without any worry of the numerous cuts across both of their bodies, and the blood leaking from Fenris’s gauntlet.  
Ilgar’s smile faded as he noticed Kaze’s distress and Karrow’s lifeless body. Fenris continued to smile, giving Titania a thumbs up with his bloodied iron fist.  
“I’ll assume you both succeeded. Naix, help Fenrisolace and Michaelis back to the guild.” Titania commanded, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she released a deep sigh.  
Fenrisolace marched home, beaming, as Naix and Michaelis shuffled after him, the chain blade-wielding warrior limping back to base. Titania walked over to Kaze, who continued to look up to her as she approached the pitiful samurai.  
“What happened, Kaze?” Titania asked, bending her knees as she leaned down, approaching his level.  
“He was killed, and I couldn’t save him in time,” Kaze stated blankly through the tears, Titania’s mouth curling.  
“You tried,” She explained, before standing tall, towering over him as Ilgar watched from the sidelines with pity stretched across his face. “But something you need to understand is that people die every day, people you don’t know or the person closest to you. Being sad about Karrow’s death will do nothing and I can’t have it hindering your performance.”  
Ilgar looked disgusted at Titania’s statement, beginning to approach the pair before Kaze stood up, lifting Karrow’s body in his arms. “I understand.” The young man blinked the tears from his eyes, rubbing the emerald embers into the torn sleeve of his kimono. “Is there anywhere I can bury Karrow near the guild?”  
Ilgar reached out to Kaze, as he and Titania walked past the orc, ignoring him. “You can bury him in front of the guild, I’ll head to the blacksmith and have him make a gravestone,” Titania concluded, placing her hand on Kaze’s shoulder as the pair walked back towards the guildhall.  
Ilgar stood alone on the beach of blood, staring out into the water, before falling on his behind and huffing, before taking another glance at his metal arm, turning it as he inspected all of the different nicks and curves that made it up.  
Naix attempted to support Michaelis as they walked through the town market, only to be pushed away causing the knight embarrassment. “We were useless.” Michaelis spat, rage across his face.  
“Can’t say the same.” Fenrisolace cackled as he held the back of his head with the scarlet fists. “Alongside the green man with a decisive blow, I single handedly battled a demigod.”  
“That’s incredible!” Naix exclaimed, only for Mick to scoff.  
“You shouldn’t talk about the quality of a fighter, Naix, unless you’re able to do more than supply opportunities to the real fighters.” The onyx eyed warrior crowed before stomping ahead of the pair, blood leaking from his pant leg.  
“He’s not wrong,” The sunwolf commented, giving the knight a side-eye. “If you’re nothing more than minor support, your opinions are meaningless to me. As long as you don’t end up getting in my way though, you should be fine.” The sunwolf barked with a cocky grin as he walked ahead of the knight who stood still looking towards the pair who had spoken down to him.  
“Am I really that useless?” He commented, looking to his armour covered hands.  
Kaze’s eyes were foggy still as he returned to the hall alongside Titania, setting Karrow on the table next to Curam, who would be repairing the assassin’s crushed calve. Michaelis glared at Kaze, looking to his chain blade he held in his left hand, irritation flowing through him.  
“Alright everyone,” Titania began, heading to the front of the guildhall, “Those two battles we just incurred were the only known God locations we had, and considering the current circumstances I’d like you all to take a week-long break while we get more information and to allow you to recover.”  
Ilgar entered the hall, taking a seat on one of the stools next to Naix, the pair looking equally, mentally broken. “I need to state this again, because I don’t think you quite understood it the past couple times.” Titania began, beginning to look infuriated.  
“You can and will die if you don’t look out for one another as well as not underestimate our opponents! They are Gods, with seemingly limitless energy!” Titania roared, Curam flinching as he began healing Fenris’s fists. “And now someone is dead. I know you didn’t know Karrow long, but take this as a lesson. Don’t allow the same mistake to occur next time.” The guild leader finished, rubbing her temple as she stepped towards her room.  
“Curam, when you’re finished with them, come in here and heal my arm, it fucking hurts.” She spat, looking tired as she slammed the door behind her.  
“What’s wrong with you?” Naix asked sympathetically to the disgruntled orc who had taken a seat next to him.  
“Kaze was upset about Karrow, but Titania didn’t care how Kaze felt.” Ilgar whimpered, resting his chin on the wooden table.  
“That’s just how mercenary work is, isn’t it? Don’t get attached, because this is a world of fighting. You know?” The knight commented, inexperienced in the field.  
“I fought with my family, for my family. Now I fight alone, and I thought I’d have a new family here, but I really don’t.”  
Naix stared at the table, before his armour shuffled, the knight turning to face his tall ally. “I’m not very strong.” He commented to the orc, who turned back to him. “But I can support you, a-as family.” He stuttered as the orc returned a soft smile, Naix extending his hand to be shaken.  
The orc grabbed Naix’s hand, pulling him in and hugging him, smiling grandly. “Thank you, Naix.”  
The knight hugged the orc back, as Michaelis looked on in disgust. “Everyone here is so odd.” He muttered, causing Curam to look in his direction, whilst healing the massive gash in Kaze’s side.  
“You think you’re any different?” He said with a chuckle, only to have daggers shot towards him causing the doctor to flinch.  
“I’m not some lunatic fighter for a God, or an idiot massive orc, or a war machine swordsman or some random fancy knight.” He commented, placing his right hand on his chest, a large black sun tattoo painted across it. “I’m still normal.”  
Curam sighed as he finished up with Kaze, before picking up his bag of tools and bringing it towards Titania’s room.  
“I can’t wait a whole week to engage in more combat!” Fenris shouted, hopping on a table as he began shadowboxing the air.  
“Do you ever rest?” Michaelis pestered, only for Fenris to look down on him from above with a cocky grin.  
“Talk down to me whenever you’re able to do something more than, what was it, support?” The beastman cackled, causing Michaelis to slam his fist on the table and stomp back to his room, slamming the door behind himself.  
Ilgar looked on as Mick trampled away, looking irritated. “I wish everyone got along better.” He muttered, Naix laughing softly.  
“This group is just kind of weird, Ilgar, I wouldn’t get your hopes up.” The knight commented, sighing. “It would be nice, though.”  
-

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